


The Legend of the Raindodger

by KyojiroKagenuma



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 57,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyojiroKagenuma/pseuds/KyojiroKagenuma
Summary: When your own father doesn't believe in you, can you even call him a father? Spurred on by her promise to Zoro, Kuina becomes more determined than ever. When a forgotten, but legendary pirate swordsman arrives in town and impresses Kuina, she begs him to train her. She fakes her death, and flees her home. After years of training, Kuina sets out to make her own destiny. Kuina joins the Whitebeard Pirates, and becomes close friends with one Portgas D Ace. AUOriginally published on Fanfiction.net in July 2016.





	1. Everyone's Got a Doppelganger

Fate whispers to the warrior . . .

"There's a storm coming. Run. You won't survive it."

The warrior whispers back . . .

"I am the storm."

Prologue: Everyone's Got a Doppelganger

"Not many people can say they've crossed swords with the Raindodger and live to tell the tale about it. No one knows much about her, not even her name. We're not even sure what she looks like," said the female marine, Tashigi, to the bounty hunter sitting across from her in the bar. She and a few other marines that had accompanied her had been tasked with finding the only man who had gone after the wanted criminal, known only as the 'Raindodger', and lived. Or at least he claimed to. At the time, Tashigi had only just joined the Marines. Gathering information on this mysterious criminal was one of her first assignments. They had come quite a way, winding up in some small town that was barely worth a name.

"So far, you're the only one we can find that says they went after her and lived. She's been spotted in locations all over the seas, but no one's ever seen her ship or a crew, so no one knows how she gets anywhere. She's worked for various criminal organizations as an assassin, but she has no known associates. The only thing we have on her is a rough sketch, and we don't even know if it's close. The woman's practically a ghost. You've seen her fight, surely you must have some information that can help us."

The bounty hunter was an older man, someone who had been doing what he did for years. He wore old, high quality clothing that was clean and would have been impressive once upon a time, but time had taken its toll on his clothes as well as his aging body. Still, he looked sturdy. Like he still had some fight left in him. He leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the table and crossing his legs.

"I could tell you what I know, but everything has a price, and since I never got the bounty on the girl, what's the information worth to you?" the bounty hunter asked.

"Name your price," Tashigi replied.

The bounty hunter thought on it before answering. "Twenty million beri."

Tashigi scowled. "That's outrageous, that's more than half her bounty."

"Well, how badly do you want this info? Trust me, what I can tell you about this girl you won't find anywhere else."

Tashigi still wasn't satisfied, "Ten," she said, trying to haggle.

Now the hunter scowled at her, "Don't insult me, I almost died trying to get this bounty. Now it's twenty-five."

"You can't be serious!"

"Tell you what, if you honestly think that what I tell you isn't worth twenty five million, you can give me less. How's that? But trust me, it is. It's worth every single fucking beri."

Tashigi eyed the bounty hunter, sighed, and then turned to one of her comrades. "Go secure the funds." The marine nodded and took off. Tashigi turned back to the bounty hunter. "You don't get the money until after you've told us."

"Fair enough," the hunter leaned in on the table. "Let's get started then, I have a lot to say."

Tashigi took out a notepad and pen from her jacket, laying it on the table.

"Okay. First, you need to raise that bounty on her," said the hunter, pointing right at Tashigi. "'Cause that girl's worth a lot more than a measly thirty million."

"And what would you put her at?"

The hunter thought it over for a bit, thinking of all the bounties he'd gone after and comparing it with her. "Two hundred," he finally settled on.

Tashigi looked at him sideways. "Two hundred million?"

The bounty hunter looked at her like she was stupid, "No, two hundred thousand," he replied sarcastically. "Of course two hundred million."

"That's quite a bit of money."

"At least two hundred," he added, "And I'll tell you what, even if you gave me all that money, in advance, I still wouldn't go after her again. She's that dangerous. I'm still not convinced she's even human."

"You mean like she could be a fishman or something?" Tashigi said, unsure of his meaning.

"I mean like she's the devil. Most dangerous soul with a sword I've ever seen, man or woman, and I've seen some mean sons of bitches. You know, when I heard the stories she was so fast she could dodge raindrops, you know 'cause of her nickname? Well, I didn't believe 'em, but now I'm here, telling you those stories are true. All of them."

"So you're saying you actually saw her dodge raindrops from the sky?"

"No. Even better. I saw her dodge a bullet. My bullet. I fired and she was just gone. She vanished into thin fucking air. Poof." He clapped his hands together in a startling motion, then flipped his hand in the air. "Like a fucking ghost. Then a split second later she just appeared right in front of me. She chopped my gun in half like a piece of meat. It was unreal."

"Provided this is all true, it's very helpful. . . and disheartening," Tashigi said as she continued writing.

The bounty hunter paid no attention to her comments and continued his story, "I didn't go after her alone you know, I used to be in a group of hunters. The Devil's Six they called us. Criminals and pirates feared us. But she showed us who the real devil was, 'cause it sure as hell wasn't us. We would have needed an army to take her down, and even then, I wouldn't have put our chances very high. Now I'm the only one left."

"She killed your comrades?"

"She slaughtered them like sheep. You couldn't even see her blade once she started moving. Hell, you couldn't even see her. All I saw was blood and flashes of light. Those were experienced bounty hunters, some of the best out there. We were fast, but she was faster. She cut through us like we were standing still."

"What kind of sword did she use?" Tashigi asked, "A katana? A cutlass?"

"No, she used a curved saber. I'll never forget that blade as long as I live. She tore us to shreds with it."

"A saber? Like a Marine officer's saber?"

"No, it looked different. I can't describe it, it just, well, it looked evil. Then again, anything looks evil when it's soaked in your friends' blood. But still, I never saw a blade that looked quite like that. It was definitely custom made, probably one of a kind. Small bits of seastone had been fused into the edge, if that helps."

"Seastone? The material that counters Devil Fruit powers?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"How did you know it was seastone?"

"I've been around a long time, I know what seastone looks like. I've never seen it built into a blade like that, but I've seen it enough to tell you that was seastone. No doubt. You know, some people think Logia Devil Fruit users are invincible, that they can't be touched, but even they could killed by that blade. Not even your admirals are safe from that sword."

"Sounds like a master-crafted weapon, also disheartening," she sighed.

"I don't know where the hell she got it, but something about it was familiar. Like I had seen it before somewhere, somehow, but I just can't place it. It's been bothering me."

"So how did you escape?" Tashigi asked, writing everything down as he said it.

"I didn't, she let me go."

"And why would she do that?"

"I gave up," the veteran bounty hunter admitted. "I know when I'm beat. I've been doing this long enough to know when I don't have a chance. If I kept fighting I would have wound up just like the others. I threw down my sword and raised my arms into the air. Still, I thought I was dead for sure. Why would an assassin let me live? I was a witness, she must have known I could tell people everything about her. The smarter thing to do would have been to just kill me, but she didn't. She looked at me for a few seconds, lowered her sword, and then she just walked away like nothing happened."

"A merciful assassin?"

"It could have been mercy, or she might have just decided I wasn't even worthy of her blade. Swordsmen have that type of arrogant mentality. No offense," he said, knowing Tashigi was a swordswoman herself by her katana. "I don't care what her reasons were, I was happy to make it out alive all the same."

"She didn't say anything to you?"

"Nah, she just turned and left. And I can tell you why no one's seen her ship too. She doesn't have one, because she doesn't need one."

"Why not? Does she just jump on other people's ships?"

"No. You're gonna think I'm crazy when I say this, but she can walk on water."

"Excuse me?" Tashigi asked, thinking he must have been joking.

"I'm serious. Once she was done with me she turned, stepped off the dock, and walked across the bay like it was solid earth. I thought I was dreaming, honestly I did. Then she started to run, and she was out of sight in a second flat. She doesn't need a ship, she runs across the ocean. I'm telling you, she's not human."

"I don't think they'll believe me if I tell them that," Tashigi noted, writing it down anyway.

"Well, it's true. I saw it for myself."

"Do you think it was a Devil Fruit power?"

"I don't frickin' know, but I wouldn't get how. Devil Fruit powers are negated by water, everyone knows that. She walked on top of it. I never heard of a water walking Devil Fruit before."

Tashigi moved on, realizing the man was starting to ramble. She wrote what he said down, but she wasn't sure she'd be putting that into the final report. Too wild a claim with no real evidence. "Did you get a good look at her face? Could you describe her to us?"

"Yeah, yeah I did," the bounty hunter said, "But uh, you should brace yourself, because this might shock you."

Tashigi pointed to one of the men accompanying her. "Describe her to the sketch artist."

"I don't need to describe her," he turned to the man she had pointed to, and motioned towards Tashigi. "Just sketch her face, minus the glasses."

"Huh?" Tashigi said, caught off guard.

The bounty hunter leaned in towards Tashigi. "You know, when you walked in here, I almost had a heart attack. I thought she had come back to finish me off," he said, studying Tashigi's confused face closely. "You look almost exactly like her."

"T-that can't be," Tashigi shook her head.

"Take off your glasses," he asked of her.

Tashigi did so, and looked at him. The bounty hunter leaned forward, reaching his hand out to her face. Tashigi moved away.

"Relax, I just want to see something," he told her.

Tashigi relented, although she was visibly uncomfortable. He messed up her hair a bit so it was out of place, then moved part of it over her face so it fell over her right eye. Then he sat back again. He shuddered as his mind flashed back to images of the assassin.

"God, that's it. That's the look. You're her. She could be your frickin' twin sister, I swear to God."

"Are you sure?" Tashigi asked, legitimately unnerved by this.

"Absolutely, no doubt. Stay just like that and he can just draw you."

"I can't write anymore without my glasses."

"That's all I have anyway. So, you think it was worth twenty five million?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Tashigi said, too distraught to argue with him. "Just go to the Marines office in town and wait, I'll give them the go ahead. I guess I have to stay here for now."

"Turn towards me please," the sketch artist said to Tashigi, so he could get a better view.

Tashigi uncomfortably sat there for the sketch artist. Of all the strange things that she knew could happen to her while working in the Marines, she still would have never expected something like this. She felt so stupid sitting there, knowing it was her face that would be going on the poster, like she was a criminal herself.

"Well, it's been good doing business with you," the bounty hunter said, getting up. "Be careful out there, or someone might mistake you for her, and hunters will be coming after you."

Tashigi shuddered at the thought. "Why would you say that to me? Just go, get out of here," she said, annoyed at the man.

The hunter chuckled at her dismay, walking off without another word, leaving the bar to go collect his money, while Tashigi just looked back at the sketch artist.

"I can't believe this. They say everyone has a twin somewhere, but why'd mine have to be a wanted criminal?" She shook her head in frustration.

"Please sit still, Miss," the sketch artist said.

"Right, right, sorry," she said. "Of all the stupid, ridiculous things," she muttered.

Something about this felt wrong to Tashigi. She didn't doubt the man's story, he seemed convincing enough, but it worried her. She always liked to believe in fate, in destiny, that things happened for a reason. That everyone was put on earth to do something they were born for. She couldn't help but think that fate had something in store for her, that one day she'd come face to face with this evil twin, and she'd be forced to fight the mirrored image of herself in a duel to the death.

The thought terrified her, yet at the same time, undeniably, it excited her.


	2. The Legacy of Romanov

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day on an uncharacteristically calm day on the New World Sea, the Whitebeard Pirates receive a visit from a stranger, with an even stranger request.

he New World Sea was unusually calm and quiet, not even much of a gust of wind in the commonly chaotic waters. Out there in the middle of the vast ocean there was the swordswoman Kuina, all by herself. She wasn't swimming, or even treading water. She stood on top of the water like it was a solid surface, just waiting. A colossal ship was coming her way, straight for her. The owners of the ship were unmistakable by the front of the ship that resembled the head of a huge whale, as well as the black flags bearing the crew's sigil. It was the Moby Dick, the ship of the legendary pirate, Whitebeard, one of the Yonko. Kuina had been waiting for them.

She refused to move as the ship got closer and closer, and it wasn't long before she was spotted. When one of the lookouts lined his telescope up with the woman standing on the water, at first he didn't even say anything. He took the scope away from his eyes and brushed them off, shaking his head, thinking he was just seeing things. When he looked again, and she was still there, he didn't even know how to explain the situation without sounding insane.

"T-There's an obstruction ahead!" he shouted. It was the best thing he could think of.

"Is it a ship, a rock? I don't see anything. What is it?" asked another lookout, who moved his gaze to where the first was looking.

"No, it's a woman. She's. . .she's standing on the water!" the lookout said back.

"What?" the second lookout took a look for himself, not believing his comrade. But when he saw the same thing, he slowly took the telescope away from his eye, turning to the other lookout. "What do we tell them?" he asked incredulously. For a moment they both just stared at each other, not sure how to report what they had seen.

Even from where Kuina was standing, which was still a good distance away from the ship, she could hear distant yelling. She knew she had been seen, as was her intention. Still, she stood in place, not budging an inch. She noticed the sails were changing position, and could tell they were slowing down, despite that they weren't going all that fast to begin with due to the sheer lack of wind. Still, she knew they were stopping, and she knew it had to be for her, there was no other reason to stop the ship.

The Moby Dick was a massive ship, Kuina knew that, and anyone in the New World who knew anything knew that. It was said it was the largest ship in the world. Kuina couldn't be sure about that, but it was definitely the largest ship she had personally seen. The Whitebeard Pirates had four ships in all, but none of them were as large as the Moby Dick, for it was the flagship. She could see the other three in the distance, but they were tailing behind, and she didn't care about them anyway. She was only interested in the one Whitebeard was on. That's who she was after. Even if it was possible for the common person to stand on water, most wouldn't just stand in place as a ship as gargantuan as the Moby Dick descended upon them, even if they were waiting for it, the smart thing to do would probably be to step back. But to Kuina, impressions were important, especially first ones. She knew many eyes were on her now, and relenting even a little would show weakness. She wasn't hoping to intimidate them, she knew how much strength the crew had. She wasn't delusional, but this way, she knew they would remember her. The arrogant nature of a swordsman, refusing to back down or show fear. Kuina had always been arrogant, being a child prodigy like she was. Her and Zoro had become such fierce rivals largely because Zoro was almost as arrogant as she was. Almost. But Zoro was always more stubborn.

Soon enough the ship was right on top of her, so close she could probably count the distance in feet if she wanted to. It was practically at a standstill now, barely moving at all, when she heard the anchor drop into the water. Kuina had to look almost directly up to see the tip of the bow, and could vaguely make out a few faces peering over the edge looking down at her, wondering what in the world was going on. She had caught them off guard for now, as no one tried to say anything to her, they just stared. She still heard shouting, and she guessed a large portion of the boat still didn't understand why they were stopping.

It was time to act. Kuina took a deep breath, and leapt into the air, straight upwards. She shot up above the bow, above the stunned faces of many pirates, and gracefully landed on the deck, in the middle of all of them. In an instant, every pirate on the ship was aiming their pistol at her. They didn't know who she was or what she wanted, but she was an intruder, who had arrived uninvited. That much they knew. The crowd began to shout at her.

"What the hell is this? Who's she?"

"Where in the world did she come from?"

"Hey! Lady! You think you can just walk onto our ship? Who the hell do you think you are? You listening?!"

They were all silenced by the sound of a high pitched, ear piercing whistle. Kuina flinched and looked up to the source of the sound, to see a tall, blond haired man standing on the upper deck, with his fingers in his mouth. All eyes were now on him as they waited for his response to the situation. Kuina recognized him from the wanted posters as Marco the Phoenix, Whitebeard's second in command. But where was Whitebeard? Kuina hoped he would have shown himself after she set foot on his ship. She didn't really have the mindset of a pirate, but she figured the act of trespassing on his ship would insult him, and that would get his attention, yet he was nowhere to be found. The man who she knew was Marco looked down on Kuina with his arms crossed and calm eyes, studying her. To him, Kuina didn't look like much. A young woman, probably not even twenty, wearing a plain white tee shirt under a torn up coat obviously too large for her, as her hands barely came out of the sleeves and it reached practically down to her feet. She was pretty tall for a woman he thought, putting her at almost six feet, but not quite. He noticed an impressive looking blade strapped to her side, or at least it looked impressive from the hilt alone, and not only that, but it seemed strongly familiar to him. Had he seen the sword before, or just a sword similar it? He couldn't remember, and suddenly found it bothering him. Still, she didn't look all that imposing. While the others were shocked and saw Kuina as a potential threat, Marco realized that if she meant to attack them, she either had to be arrogant beyond all hell or an absolute fool to land right in the middle of them all, expecting to be able to take on the entire Whitebeard crew. Still, he had no idea who she was or what she wanted, and she was indeed trespassing, so he was cautious.

"Can I help you?" he asked of her, rather civilly, given the circumstances.

Kuina finally spoke up, "I'm not here to fight any of you, I just wanted to get your attention. I have a message for Whitebeard, and it needs to be delivered."

Marco didn't respond with words, instead he hoisted himself up above the railing and leapt down onto the lower deck. He walked towards Kuina, unafraid and careful, yet also visibly laid back, with his hands stuffed in his pockets and slouching slightly. It was a large deck, so Kuina stood there waiting, pretty uncomfortably as he took his time making his way over to her, even annoyingly whistling to himself a bit as he did so. The crewmembers moved out of his way one by one as he approached, clearing a path for their first mate. Marco could sense Kuina's formidable power, but he could tell she was still a while away from his level. Kuina knew this too. She knew that by stepping on board this ship, she would be surrounding herself with multiple fighters who could either match her or defeat her, and she knew right away Marco was one of them. Marco didn't look like much from the outside, but she could feel the immeasurable power he possessed. She had mentally prepared herself for a while to pull this stunt, but even with the preparation, she felt unnerved as he came within mere feet of her. She wondered if Marco was intentionally trying to make her nervous with this act, as he was making her wait, casually strolling over and whistling a strange tune. She had gone out of her way to catch them off guard so she'd be taken seriously, yet here Marco was, treating it like a joke. She had no doubt that if she and he were to come to blows, she might put up a good fight, but she would almost certainly lose. Kuina took a deep breath again. Finally he reached her, but he didn't stop right in front of her. He nearly passed her, stopping on a dime right next to her so they were standing shoulder to shoulder. He turned his head to her, finally ceasing his whistling.

"A message from whom, exactly? And actually, before you answer that, please tell me, who the heck are you?"

Kuina knew she was staring down a stronger opponent, and she was sure he knew he was stronger than her too. Still, she had to stand her ground, otherwise she'd look weak.

"My name is Kuina."

Marco had no facial reaction, and simply said softly to her, "Never heard of you."

"What about the Raindodger? Have you heard that name? That's what they call me, I've heard."

Marco raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything another man stepped from the crowd.

"You? You're the Raindodger?" Kuina looked to see another face she recognized from the posters, the famous swordsman Vista. She knew of Vista's reputation as one of the world's best swordsman. It was stories of swordsmen like him that were an inspiration to her as a child, and even then, as she stood there, she felt overwhelmed to finally see one of her icons in person. Vista's feats were legendary, surpassed only by a few. She knew she had to surpass him if she meant to keep her promise to Zoro. Still, now was not the time to challenge him, as much as it excited her to finally see him in person.

"Hm? You've heard of her?" Marco asked, looking back to him.

"I've heard some stories. She's no pirate though, she's an assassin. Watch yourself Marco, assassins don't fight with honor. This could easily be a trick, something to distract us. She could be after any one of us."

Marco looked back to Kuina now, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, "Oh? Is that so?"

Kuina was visibly stung by Vista's comment, and against her better judgement, she decided to say something about it. "You're Vista, right? I've always looked up to you, you know, ever since I was a kid."

"Eh?" Vista remarked, caught off guard.

"I've always dreamed of fighting someone as strong as you. I've fought some formidable swordsmen so far, but none of them compare to you. I would consider it an honor to cross blades with you one day, if fate allows it." She bowed her head to him, showing respect.

Vista stared at her, not sure how to react to such a gesture. "What kind of an assassin are you?"

"One who fights with honor," she said back.

Vista had no response to that. He silently studied her, not sure what to make of the young swordswoman after all.

"Who's your message from?" Marco suddenly butted in, getting back to the point. "What's it about?"

"The message is from my master, Jakon Romanov."

Marco reacted as soon as the name Romanov was off her lips, flinching and looking at her again as if he had heard her wrong.

"And I don't know what it's about, he told me not to read the letter."

"Jakon Romanov has been dead for nearly twenty years, and you expect me to believe you have a message from him? How do you even know that name?" said Marco, not believing a word of it.

"He's not dead, he was master."

"Your master? You mean," then it hit him. He looked down again to the blade strapped to her hip, taking a closer look at it. He thought it seemed familiar before. He looked back up to Kuina with a puzzled face.

"Where did you get that sword?" Marco demanded.

"Jakon passed it on to me. I told you, I was his student."

Vista, overhearing the bit about the sword, walks over to beside Marco to get a better look at the blade strapped to Kuina's hip.

"What the hell, that is his sword! Do you think she's actually telling the truth?"

Marco put his hands on his hips and eyed Kuina, "Unless she stole it from him."

"Don't you think that's a pretty big coincidence? Why I would I lie about having a letter from him? Please, I've come a long way to see Whitebeard as a request from my master himself."

Marco threw up his hands, "Well, I don't know what to make of this," he turned to Vista, "I suppose we'll have to let Pops make sense of it."

"Pops?" Kuina asked, confused.

They ignored her, "We can't trust this girl, we don't even know her," said Vista.

"Maybe she's telling the truth, maybe she's not, but if there's anyone who would be able to tell, it's him." Marco turned to Kuina now. "You, give me that sword."

"What? No! Why?" She asked, very protective of it.

"I don't care who you think you are, we're not letting a known assassin go anywhere near Whitebeard while armed. So if you wanna see him, give me the sword," Marco demanded, outstretching his hand and waiting.

Kuina huffed, but finally relented. She took the sword off her hip and placed it in his hands. "You better be careful with that. It's irreplaceable."

Marco took the sword from her and turned his back to her, heading towards the stairs to the upper deck. "Follow me."

"Mind your manners, you'll be speaking with one of the Yonko," said Vista as she passed him. He walked behind her, following her up the stairs, keeping an eye on her.

As Kuina was escorted up the stairs to the upper deck, she passed a number of other faces she recognized, for there were many famous pirates aboard Whitebeard's vessel. The main attraction, was of course, Edward Newgate himself, a.k.a. Whitebeard, a.k.a. "The Strongest Man in the World." Although, when Kuina laid eyes on him, he didn't look like he was in such a great shape. He was sitting down in a huge chair at the back of the ship that could only be described as a throne. He had a system hooked up to him that looked like it was helping him with his breathing. Kuina felt foolish when she realized he had been asleep this whole time, and had not seen all the efforts she had gone through for him to notice her.

"Figures," she muttered.

"What's that now?" Vista said, leaning his head in to hear what she was saying under her breath.

"Nothing, just something stupid, like usual," Kuina sighed.

Marco brought Kuina before the sleeping giant, "You see now why I didn't want to disturb him," Marco said. "Whatever you have to say, you better hope it's important. Whitebeard is not a man whose time I would want to waste."

Kuina breathed deeply as Marco woke his captain. Whitebeard shuffled a bit before his eyes opened, and brought his head up to set his sights on the unknown swordswoman who stood before him. He squinted at the unknown figure, and looked to Marco. "Who is this girl?" He looked around, "What's her business here? Shouldn't I be told anything anymore?"

"Ask her yourself," Marco said, gesturing to Kuina. "She says she's here on a very special mission."

"My name is Kuina, Sir," Kuina said, not knowing how else to address him.

"Sir?" Whitebeard repeated, then began to laugh. He bellowed laughter at her expense, but then began to hack and cough due to his condition.

Kuina felt embarrassed. Marco went to help his coughing captain but Whitebeard shooed him away, eventually gathering himself. "And what are you here for, Kuina?"

"I have a message from my master, he said he was an old friend of yours, Jakon Romanov," she said bluntly, cutting right to the point.

Whitebeard's eyes widened as she said that name, suddenly becoming tense. "Romanov. . ." He looked to Marco for some sort of confirmation of this claim.

"I'm not sure I believe it either Pops, but she did have this," Marco said, handing Kuina's sword to Whitebeard.

Whitebeard barely had to look at it to know. He held it up in front of him with one hand by the handle, a surge of memories rushing through him as he gazed upon the master crafted sword.

"Please be careful with it, that sword is everything to me," Kuina said, uncomfortable it was out of her hands in the first time since she received it from her master.

Whitebeard didn't seem to hear her. "Hm, that's definitely his sword." He looked past the sword to Kuina. "You said you were Romanov's student? I haven't seen that man since Roger's execution twenty years ago."

"He was a legendary swordsman, the best of his time." Kuina said.

"He was more than that," said Whitebeard, "He was a pirate. A great one. And he was my friend. He was my friend when we were your age, and fifty years ago I once served in the same crew as him. I don't remember the name of the captain that was so long ago. Later he became my rival, but I always respected him, even when others turned against him. He disappeared not long after Roger's execution, but that, is a long story. One for another time. Tell me, do you know what they called Romanov in his day?"

"The Phantom," Kuina said immediately, "Because he could float and disappear like a spectre. They knew he was there, but he could never be touched. He would be there one second, then the next he'd vanish. Trying to catch him was like—."

"Trying to catch smoke," Whitebeard finished her sentence, chuckling to himself. "Yes, that's exactly how he always said it." Then, he suddenly chucked the sword at Kuina. She had amazing reflexes and caught the sword out of the air, but the act itself threw her for a second. "Take it, it's yours. It belongs in the hands of Romanov's student."

Marco looked at him, worried he had just handed a known assassin back her sword. "Pops, you're just gonna take her word for it? I mean, everyone thought Romanov was dead."

"I never thought he was dead, and I can tell she's not lying, I could see her concern for her master's sword, I can see how much it means to her. Most people her age haven't even heard of that name, people forgot him, but she knows everything about him. You said you had a message, right?" he said now to Kuina. "Well let's hear it then."

"It's not a verbal message, he wrote you a letter." Kuina reached into her jacket, revealing a sealed envelope. She extended her hand over to Whitebeard, who took it in his hands. He opened the envelope and unfolded the cheap parchment. They all waited in suspense as he scanned the words, with Kuina especially being tense. After coming all this way, she had been dying to know what the letter said.

When Whitebeard finally finished after an era of silence, he just laughed to himself. "So, that's why he sent you here."

"What, what does it say?" Marco asked eagerly.

Kuina said nothing, as even though she desperately wanted to know what was on that letter, she wasn't sure if Romanov ever wanted her to know, so she didn't ask.

"After twenty years of not seeing that bastard, he has the nerve to ask me for a favor. He sends you," he pointed at Kuina, "his successor, to me, the only one who stood by him to the end, so I could look after you. So you could become my daughter, as you were his."

The words blew Kuina away, and left her standing speechless before Whitebeard, along with his own crew. "M-me?" Kuina barely got out, "join you?"

While the rest of the crew was still trying to process what Whitebeard had just said, Vista stepped forward. "Now hold on a minute. This is all very interesting, it is. She's got his sword, and a letter, and she certainly seems convincing, but that's not enough for me. If this girl truly is the pupil of Jakon Romanov, let her prove it. In combat."

"Are you saying you want to fight her?" Marco asked, reverting back to his composed state.

"Why not? Just to see if she really has his skill and spirit," he turned to Kuina. "You said you wanted to fight me sometime right? Well, Raindodger, today's your lucky day."

Kuina honestly didn't have the slightest idea how to react to any of this, so she just stared back at Vista in an almost petrified state.

"That sounds like a good test to me," Whitebeard said. "Show us what you can do. I'm not expecting you to beat Vista of course, but if you can stand your ground, and show us you truly are Jakon's student, then I will honor his request. So, Kuina, you up to the task?"  
Kuina stared at Whitebeard now. A chance to join the Whitebeard pirates and fight Vista? It wasn't a hard decision.

"Yes," she said simply and softly.

The lower deck had been cleared of everyone except for Kuina and Vista, who stood in place opposite of one another on the deck. They stood, swords drawn, eyeing each other, waiting for the go ahead to begin. Whitebeard stood over them on the upper deck, with Marco at his side, and the rest of his crew gathered around him. Whitebeard then clapped his hands together.

"Begin!"

Neither one moved at first, they both stood in the ready position. Kuina held her saber with one hand, her right shoulder turned towards Vista as he stood vertically to him, so Vista couldn't even see her sword behind her legs.

"That certainly looks like Romanov's stance," Marco commented.

"It's not exactly the same, but then again she's his successor, not his clone," said Whitebeard back.

Then, Kuina took a step forwards, walking in a casual fashion towards Vista, who held his ground. He watched her calmly advance, wondering what she was up to. Then in the middle of her stride, Kuina simply vanished before their eyes. Vista's eyes widened as he saw her speed had not been exaggerated, but Vista was no rookie. He had seen tricks like this before, and knew where she'd be coming from. He whipped around to his side, sensing her presence as she appeared mid-air in front of him, sword raised high and bringing down a great amount of force upon him. He blocked her initial strike, although he could feel the weight and power behind the attack as he parried it and brought around his other sword to counter attack her. Kuina gracefully dodged the sword coming for her and jumped back, repositioning on him.

The crowd gathered above the deck watched in awe as the pair of swordsmen circled one another, striking with lightning fast blows with each encounter. Every once in a while Kuina disappeared and reappeared again, but Vista always seemed to be able to keep track of her. Whitebeard and Marco's eyes darted across the deck, following Kuina's movements. She was too fast for most to see her, but Whitebeard could see her gliding motions as she shot through the air. Vista was largely on the defensive, doing his best to block every attack from Kuina as if he were trying to fend off a wasp.

Marco legitimately smiled in amusement, laughing a bit. "She's giving him a run for his money."

"She's faster than him, no doubt about that. But Romanov's entire technique relied on speed, timing, and precision. Moving too fast to keep track of and overwhelming his opponent. If she wasn't this fast, she wouldn't be doing it right."

Each time Vista moved now, it was to block another of Kuina's attacks. "She's not really giving Vista a chance to attack, how does he plan to beat her?" Marco wondered.

"Speed isn't everything. Her fast movements are a trick to throw you off guard, to fool your eyes, but like all tricks, people catch on to it eventually. She's getting predictable."

"Oh?" Marco said back, taking a closer look.

Almost right as Whitebeard said this, Vista turned exactly to where he knew Kuina would be, and sure enough she appeared there as Vista was bringing his swords down on that exact spot.

"Found you!" Vista shouted as his swords descended upon Kuina.

Kuina was caught off guard, and Vista was sure he had her now. Kuina's eyes widened when she realized her mistake.

"A bit disappointing," Whitebeard mumbled, as he too, thought it was over.

But as Vista's blades fell, the figure of Kuina simply moved backwards, and Vista hit air. Vista looked on in disbelief as Kuina was just simply standing in the exact same position in mid-jump, only further away, as if she hadn't actually moved, but had shifted through the air.

Whitebeard's eyes shot open as he saw this, and Marco's mouth fell open as the whole crew gasped in shock. Kuina just hung there, in mid-air, and then vanished again, appearing above Vista. She took advantage of his shocked state to get a strike in, slicing Vista across his back. Vista cringed in pain, but was now back in it, bringing his sword around and catching Kuina in the side as she darted backwards. Kuina winced as she retreated.

Whitebeard and Marco stood still like stiff boards, trying to comprehend what they had just seen. "Did she recover? Did she dodge him?" Marco questioned, his hand to his chin.

"No, she was caught flat-footed. She didn't have time to dodge, avoiding that attack should have been impossible. Only one person in the world has ever moved like that," Whitebeard said, watching in legitimate awe.

"Jakon Romanov," Marco said what echoed through all their minds, especially Vista, who looked on in Kuina's direction, stunned into silence.

"Could it, really be?" he finally said.

"You know, I think she really could dodge raindrops if she wanted to," Marco laughed to himself.

Both Vista and Kuina had been cut now, but Vista was used to being injured, Kuina was not. She struggled to keep her stance, battling the pain, but knowing she wouldn't be able to move as fast. They both raised their swords to go at it again, but Whitebeard spoke up. "That's enough," he announced, putting an end to the skirmish. "I don't want you two killing each other. I think the evidence is clear." He looked to his comrade on the lower deck. "Are you satisfied now Vista?"

Vista looked to Kuina, "I thought it couldn't be true, but I was wrong. You truly are his student. I would be honored to call you sister," and then he gave her a bow.

Kuina didn't know what to say. For something like this to happen to her, she could only have imagined it. She lowered her sword, and was about to say something when she was cut off.

"Kuina the Raindodger, you have proven without a doubt that you are Romanov's successor. Your master was like a brother to me, and now you will be my daughter. Welcome to the family! You're stuck here now whether you like it or not, 'cause I'll be damned if I'm letting you leave now!"

Marco took the lead, and began a clap to congratulate Kuina, his newest comrade. Soon the applause spread, and Kuina stood there, unspeakably humbled as crewmembers filed down the staircases to welcome her. Marco and Whitebeard remained at the top, looking down on Kuina as she was swarmed.

"She really is something, standing up to Vista like that. She could be something really special," Marco said, smiling.

"She could be more than just special," Whitebeard replied, his mind being rushed by memories of his old friend, and couldn't help but see Jakon himself down there, back when they were young. He felt tears begin to well up, but he fought them off. "She could be like him. She could be the best."


	3. The Divide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some time as a member of the crew, Kuina comes into conflict with one of the newest, forcibly recruited additions to the Whitebeard Pirates: Portgas D. Ace. Enraged by his attitude and disrespect, she challenges him to a duel.

Months passed for Kuina as she settled into her new life as being a pirate. She wasn't used to being surrounded by people all the time, especially not with those who treated her with such warmness. She had been a loner for so long, she had forgotten what it was like to have friends. It was awkward at first for her, and it was a position she never could have prepared for.

She had immediate favor with Whitebeard and the other top crewmates like Marco and Vista due to her past with Jakon, which honestly made her feel a little guilty. It all felt incredibly undeserved, considering she had just arrived, relatively speaking. She would constantly get asked about Jakon, including by Whitebeard himself, wanting to hear her adventures and training with a man he considered a brother. Unfortunately, Kuina was never much of a storyteller, nor was she one for attention. She was appreciative and honored for being taken in by Whitebeard of course, but she had ended up turning into something of a celebrity, and it was wearing on her. She couldn't help but feel sometimes this wasn't the place for her, despite the amount of action and fighting this was place was bringing. The thought of leaving had crossed her mind more than once, but this is what her master wanted for her, a man who had been more of a father to her than her real one had been. She owed it to him to at least give it a chance.

Luckily for Kuina, the attention was soon drawn away from her when a new soul was forced into the crew, considering Whitebeard didn't give the boy any kind of choice. Kuina didn't know the whole story, but Whitebeard had defeated a bigshot rookie pirate by the name of Portgas D. Ace, who apparently was intent on having the old man's head. For some reason Kuina couldn't fathom, he had decided to bring this pirate under his wing. The only thing that was keeping Ace on the ship was the safety of his crew, which was being held hostage in a sense. Ace had been a reluctant addition to Whitebeard's crew to say the least, and him and Kuina butted heads immediately. She couldn't comprehend why Whitebeard had taken him in. The boy had no respect for anyone on the ship but himself, and he had made it clear he was out to take Whitebeard's head. He had plenty of strength, but no discipline. He would make constant attempts on Whitebeard's life, but he easily repelled each attack and never took Ace's offenses seriously, regarding him as little more than a nuisance. He was clearly a menace, yet somehow Kuina was the only one agitated. Everyone else just looked the other way or laughed along with Whitebeard. She couldn't help but feel as if she was being left out on some kind of joke, but with each passing day, the resent within her grew. She had accosted him before, but he never paid her a hint of attention, usually not even bothering to look in her direction. A whole month passed, and Ace had showed no intention of stopping his futile attempts to kill Whitebeard, and Kuina's patience had run out. She could not ignore him any longer. If no one else would do anything about it, she'd do it herself.

Another day, another attempt to kill Whitebeard. At this point it was almost a ritual. People expected it. This time, however, it wouldn't be the captain who fought Ace. Whitebeard stood looking over the lower deck from up above, when Ace made his move from behind. He was always expecting the persistent boy and had heard him coming a mile away. Who he hadn't heard coming was Kuina, who had been lying in wait for Ace to strike. Ace had tried all kinds of ridiculous ways to kill Whitebeard, and at this point, it was getting desperate and sad.

Ace leapt high into the air, a large axe in his hands. "I've got you now old man!" he screamed, descending fast.

Whitebeard simply sighed and turned to deal with it, stunned to see his second newest crewmate appear from seemingly nowhere next to Ace in midair. Ace flinched at the sudden presence, but didn't have time to react as a sharp kick caught him right in the back. Ace flew forward, the axe flying from his hands, soaring past the stunned Whitebeard and crashing hard onto the deck below, scattering the crewmembers. Ace jumped to his feet, confused, but mostly annoyed that someone had intervened. Kuina floated down to his level, holding the oversized axe Ace was wielding.

"You know, I'm curious," Kuina began, looking over the axe in her hand. "Assuming you did actually manage to kill Whitebeard, what was it that you planned on doing after that? Did you honestly think you'd be able to somehow escape with all your crewmembers before you were killed? Or did you just not think that far ahead?"

Kuina's appearance had changed quite a bit in the few months she'd been in the crew. Gone were the disheveled, ragged clothes she had arrived in. For one, her new jacket was actually in her size, although it was still a bit loose on her particularly slender figure. The unmistakable mark of Whitebeard, a t shaped cross joined with an upwards facing crescent, was stitched proudly on the back of her coat. Her hair had been cut short and hung loosely above her shoulders, reminiscent to her appearance as a child.

Ace scowled, "My fight's not with you lady, out of the way!"

"Kuina!" came Whitebeard's booming voice, which actually seemed to shake the ship a little. Both Ace and Kuina looked up to see the towering old man, obviously not happy about Kuina's sudden upstart. "What do you think you're doing?"

"All you've done for the last month is kick this fool around, and he still doesn't get it," Kuina said back.

Ace growled, "Hey! What'd you call me? Say that to my face coward!"

Kuina ignored him. "I don't know why you keep him around, maybe it's none of my business, but it's clear he's not listening. I can only take so much disrespect," she said honestly, glaring at Ace. "Sometimes people need to be told something. . . definitively. I want to fight him myself, with your permission."

Whitebeard looked to Marco, who just shrugged in response. "He has to learn one way or another. Why not give her a shot?"

Whitebeard wasn't overly thrilled with the idea of crewmembers fighting, but he had to admit, he certainly wasn't getting through to Ace yet. Perhaps Kuina would have better luck, she could at least try.

"Fine, but don't get carried away. I'm trusting you here Kuina," Whitebeard said.

"Thank you," Kuina said sincerely.

"Give them room!" he yelled to the crew below, and instantly they cleared the way for the soon to come fight. Ace, being Ace, refused to back down from a challenge of any kind.

Kuina raised the axe in Ace's direction. "You trying to kill Whitebeard is like watching a fly trying to fell a giant. If you wanna fight so bad, why don't you take on someone more your league?"

"What makes you think you're in my league?" said Ace back. He had heard of and many members of the Whitebeard crew, seeing their faces on wanted posters across the Grand Line, but this woman didn't look like any one of them. Still, she did look familiar.

"My name is Kuina. To you, I would only be known as the Raindodger."

"The Raindodger. . ." Ace repeated the words.

He had definitely heard of her. He had many names of famous pirates on his list to defeat, but the Raindoger was not a name that had been sung in songs as a fabled hero like Whitebeard or Gold Roger. The Raindodger was a name you'd hear whispered through darkened streets in hushed voices. A symbol of fear. A harbinger of death. To Ace, she was just a ghost before now, a mythical being he wasn't even sure was real. Still, he wouldn't be deterred. Whitebeard's head would be his.

"You can't be the Raindodger," he challenged, "The Raindodger is nothing more than a lowly assassin, working for the highest bidder."

"I left that life behind me. I only did it in the first place as a means of getting this far, but that's none of your concern."

Ace eyed her, not sure what to think, "Can you really dodge raindrops?"

In response, Kuina tossed the axe high into the air. Ace's eyes, on instinct, followed the weapon soar up, and then descend back down. Ace couldn't help wonder what the point of this was, but he soon had his answer.

Marco, who had already caught on, smirked. "Clever."

When the axe fell back down to the deck, Kuina had vanished, the heavy axe clashing harmlessly into the place she once stood. Ace's realization that he had been deceived came too late. A sharp pain tore through him as Kuina's saber slashed through his skin, leaving a cut on his back that resembled a wound from a whip. Ace cringed, whipping around to face her, only to see a glimpse of her leg as she delivered a powerful kick to his chest, pushing him back quite a ways, but managing to stay on his feet this time. He expected her to come at him again, but for some reason she stopped, and just stood in place.

"Kuina!" Whitebeard's eyes narrowed, seeing the cut on Ace's back.

"Relax, it's just a flesh wound," Kuina said back.

Ace reached around, feeling the cut on his back. It wasn't deep, but it stung like hell. He stared almost disbelieving at his blood covered hand.

"What's the matter 'Firefist'?" Kuina taunted, "You look like you've never seen your own blood before. Not even your Logia devil fruit can defend from a seastone coated blade."

"Oh yeah?!" the stubborn Ace lashed back, refusing to be intimidated. "That trick only works once. Just try to pull that shit again."

"It only needs to work once. If I was really trying to kill you, I would've just cut you in half. You have more raw power than almost anyone on this ship, but without skill and discipline, raw power becomes useless when facing experienced, formidable opponents."

"They're both underestimating the other," Vista commented, watching the fight along with everyone else on the deck.

"Shutup! I don't need your lessons lady! I'm onto your tricks now!" Ace created two fists of flames, a blast of fire igniting under him to propel himself at Kuina with much more force than she had expected. Still, she let him come, making no effort to move out of the way. Ace unleashed a barrage of stirkes at Kuina, one rapid punch after another. Kuina's whole body went limp, making impossible, swift movements to easily dodge Ace's attacks. Ace felt like an idiot trying to punch smoke, as Kuina gently flowed through the air like a kite.

"Wait a minute…" Marco thought to himself as he watched Kuina's movements. They felt very familiar, and not just because she had learned from Jakon. He was sure he'd seen this martial art before, somewhat recently, but where?

"You've gotten this far on brute force alone," Kuina said as she easily dodged his attacks, "but it doesn't matter how strong you are. If you can't hit me, you can't hurt me."

Kuina ended Ace's hitless onslaught by catching his arm mid strike, throwing him clean over her shoulder. Ace landed on his back, angrily scrambling to his feet. Kuina spun swiftly, whipping her sword through the air in a powerful flourish. An almost invisible blade of razor sharp air shot out form Kuina's saber, headed straight for Ace. He roared in defiance, bringing up another fist of fire and literally punched the air as it raced towards him, tearing Kuina's attack in half and shooting fire back at Kuina. What remained of the airwave passed by Ace, cutting a whole clean through wall of the ship and flew out harmlessly into the sea. Ace's counter attack had caught Kuina off her guard, she managed to dodge, but just barely, feeling the intense heat as it came within inches of her skin, the powerful flame scorching the end of her coat. The fireball soared by, taking a large chunk of the other side of the ship's wall.

"HEY!" Came the angry voice of Whitebeard. "Stop putting holes in my ship!"

Kuina looked back to Ace, a little stunned. She gave him a reluctant nod of acknowledgement.

"Huh, not bad. I guess brute force is good for something."

"You're not so bad yourself," Ace smirked.

Marco had seen enough. The technique Kuina just used was definitely a variant of Rankyaku, one of the Rokushiki. The six styles. The technique she used to dodge Ace's attacks was Kami-e, another one of the six styles. Rokushiki was a rather rare martial art used primarily by agents of the World Government, sometimes high ranking marines. Seeing a pirate perform these moves was not an everyday occurrence by any means. Marco never noticed Jakon's style had utilized these abilities, for that was so long ago now. Obviously Kuina had learned them from him, but then, where did he learn them? Marco looked around and could tell from the look on Whitebeard's face, among others, that he wasn't the only one who saw it. Marco stepped forward, strolling up to Whitebeard, while the two below continued to clash.

"You saw that too, right?"

"Yes. . ." Whitebeard confirmed, immediately knowing what his first mate was talking about. "I never noticed the similarities, until now."

They talked without looking at each other, trying to keep an eye on the fight, still making sure neither one of them hurt the other too much. It didn't take a trained eye to figure out they were pretty dead even in ability, albeit in undeniably different ways. Ace had nowhere near the amount of pure skill and talent Kuina possessed, while Kuina could never measure up to the raw power and strength of Ace. If they actually managed to get along, they'd make a near perfect team, both of them being able to make up for the other's weaknesses.

"What do you think this means?" Marco asked. "You don't think Jakon…"

"Jakon was using those moves before he aligned with the World Government. Before he became a Shichibukai. And even then, why would they teach him Rokushiki? It doesn't add up. Not at all."

"He never said anything to you about it?"

"He was always a man of secrets, even to me. He never told me why he became a Shichibukai, it's not a surprise he didn't tell me about this either."

"I think I should have a talk with Kuina, after all, who would know better than her? Maybe she could share some of his secrets."

"Maybe, but something tells me he kept her in the dark about a lot of things. Hell, he didn't even tell her what the letter said. I knew Jakon well enough to know he wasn't proud of his past. I was his oldest friend, even when the rest of the world turned against him, and then chose to forget him. If he never told me, why would he tell her?'

"Still, I should talk to her."

"Yes, you should. But not just about Jakon. Tell her about Ace. Everything."

Marco turned away from the fight to look at his captain, who didn't look back. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I think she's a lot like Ace, and that's why he gets to her so much. If she knew more about him, I think she'd start to see that. She's here because of Romanov, and he's here because or Roger. But now, they're both my children, and I want them to get along. They're family now, whether they like it or not."

"Still, why do I have to do it?" Marco asked.

"You've become fast friends with Kuina. I see how much you talk. Besides, that's I have you, to do the things I don't want to do myself," laughed Whitebeard.

Marco sighed, shaking his head, "What a bother." He looked back to the fight still raging between the two. At first, this had started off as a grudge match for Kuina, but he caught smiles on both their faces as they went at it. Marco smirked, "Well, looks like they're actually enjoying themselves."

"They both live to fight, but if they go any longer they'll tear this whole ship apart," Whitebeard claimed. He lifted his weapon, a huge naginata he wielded with one hand, and slammed it down on the deck. "That's enough!" he shouted down below. The sheer loudness of his voice made the two combatants stop in their tracks. "I hope you both got that out of your system, because it's not happening again. I'm lucky you didn't burn the whole ship down!"

Kuina nodded, lowering her sword. She was a little winded, but she could go on for much longer if she needed. This hadn't gone quite according to plan, but it was good enough. She wasn't sure if she had gotten through to Ace at all, but she certainly felt a lot better.

"I guess the fun's over," sighed Ace, starting to walk off. "Just when things were getting interesting." He stopped, turning to look back at Kuina. "Hey, what'd you say your name was again?"

"Uhm, Kuina," she replied, thrown off a bit by his interest.

"Well Kuina, we'll call that one a draw. But next time, I'll beat you," he said, grinning with anticipation. "Count on it."

Familiar words. Words that brought back images of old, pained memories. They hit Kuina like a train, taking her away to another place and time. Suddenly, she wasn't standing on Whitebeard's ship. She was in the woods, in the dark. She felt the cool breeze of the night against her skin. She had been here before. It had been years since she stood here. Across from her stood a familiar figure. One she had fought 2000 times. He wasn't how she remembered. He was older, all grown up, just like her, yet it felt just like when they were young. She could see him so clearly. She wasn't in the past, she was in another life. A forgotten life. What could have been. Would they meet again someday? Did he still think about her? What would he do if he knew she was still alive? The figure started walking forward, coming closer. Kuina couldn't move. A chill ran through her body as he walked right into her, passing through her like she wasn't there. Kuina watched him leave, unable to say or do anything to stop him. Kuina was a ghost.

"Zoro…"

The figure stopped in its tracks. He turned back, looking at her, his eyes as wide as hers. Had he heard her? Was this real? Was she really seeing this, or had she lost her mind?

"Kuina?"

She felt a force latch onto her, pulling her away. The figure faded to nothing. The world fell to pieces around her.

"Kuina!"

The outside voice broke her from her trance. She looked to see Marco standing beside her, his hand on her shoulder. She looked around, seeing everyone had gone back to their business. Ace was nowhere to be seen. She felt strange, out of joint, like she had been awoken from a dream, far too soon. It all felt so real.

"Are you alright? You've been standing here for like… five minutes."

'Yeah I…I'm fine."

"That's good, 'cause I need to talk to you."

Kuina turned to him, "About what?"

He gave her that calming smile he was so famous for, "A bunch of things. Come on, you look like you need to sit down. Let's go to your room."

He was definitely right about that. Kuina felt like she could barely stand. Kuina let Marco take the lead, far too distracted to ask any questions. Hopefully she'd be able to make it back to her room without suffering another hallucination. Although, if she was being honest, she wouldn't have minded visiting that place again.


	4. Kuina's Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the dangerous confrontation with Ace, Marco questions Kuina about her past and her abilities, as well as her time spent with Jakon. Their discussion is soon cut short when rival pirates attack the Moby Dick in force.

"Alright so, what did you want to talk about exactly?" asked Kuina, sitting down on her bed. Marco had taken her someplace they wouldn't be disturbed, so it was obvious that this conversation was important.

"I want to talk to you about your fight with Ace."

Kuina raised an eyebrow, "I'm not in trouble are I? The duel was sanctioned by Whitebeard, you were there."

"No, no you're not in trouble," smiled Marco, leaning against her wooden bedroom door.

Kuina's room was simple and small, not that she minded, she was never exactly the extravagant type. As long as she had a bed, she was happy. Most of the common crew had to sleep in hammocks, so she was already counting herself lucky. This was the first time she had a stable home in years, since she was always traveling while studying under Romanov.

"Okay, then what's going on?" Kuina asked.

"I just wanted to check something with you. All of the techniques you use were taught to you by Romanov and Romanov alone, right?"

"Uh, Yes," Kuina answered, visibly confused by the nature of the question.

"Those moves you used today against Ace, they were all from Romanov."

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Hmm," Marco pondered to himself, thinking of the best way to proceed. "Are you aware of the origin of those techniques? What it's called?"

"Rokushiki, the Six Styles," Kuina said quickly.

"So you do know."

"Of course I know, I've mastered them all. Jakon wouldn't have let me go if I didn't. Why are you asking me all these strange questions?"

"Well, we just find it concerning that one of our crewmembers is using techniques that is almost exclusively used by the CP9, agents of the World Government," Marco said plainly. "They aren't exactly the same, you use a sword instead of your foot for Rankyaku, but it's definitely the same idea."

Kuina recoiled, visibly stunned. "W-what? Who are the CP9?"

"Even more concerning, is the fact that none of us ever noticed the similarities between Jakon's style and the techniques used by the CP9."

"Wait a minute, hold on," Kuina said, standing up. "Are you saying that you don't believe I'm really Jakon's student? Are you accusing me of being an agent of the World Government?" Kuina replied, her eyes suddenly turning into an intense stare.

"No, I know you aren't. No CP9 agent would be stupid enough to use those moves in front of the entire crew like that. It would give them away for sure."

"Okay..." Kuina said, calming a bit.

"But that doesn't mean we're not curious about your techniques. Did Jakon ever tell you where he learned those techniques?"

Kuina shook her head. "No, he never told me much about his past, he didn't even tell me he knew Whitebeard. He just gave me that letter."

"You don't know anything? You never got curious and asked him?"

"Whenever I did ask, he was very vague. He told me only that he was once a feared and respected swordsman of legend, now forgotten by time. I didn't believe him at first, but obviously, he quickly changed my mind. The only thing he ever said about where the techniques he was teaching me came from is that they were based off a secret martial art, Rokushiki, but he had changed and repurposed the techniques to suit the needs of a swordsman, rather than an unarmed martial artist. To be honest, I thought the techniques had been mostly lost to time, considering I've never seen anyone else use them."

Marco stood up straight now, intrigued by Kuina's answer. "You said he changed them? How?"

"Well, to be honest I've never seen the originals, but he said some he changed how they worked, with others he expanded their abilities. All of my abilities are based on Rokushiki, but he told me even I did see others who used it, no one would use it like I do. He never gave the style its own name though, he never felt the need."

"All of your abilities are based on it?"

Kuina nodded, "Yes."

It was Marco's turn to look confused now. "Even the water walking?"

"The what?"

"The water walking? When you first came to see us you were standing on the water?"

"Oh, oh that. It's not really water walking, but I can see why you'd think that. That one originated from Geppo. It's essential to the style. He said that was one of the ones he had changed the most. It was also one of the hardest to learn," Kuina added, looking off, thinking back on her struggles with training.

"Show me," said Marco.

Kuina looked back to him now, caught off guard a bit. "What?"

"Show me how you water walk. I'm curious."

"Well, I can't do that here, in this tiny little room. Made of wood."

"I can't tell if you have a sense of humor or if you really think I'm that stupid," Marco smiled, "Obviously not here." He said, opening the door. "Let's go to where's there water."

Kuina sighed. She was hoping Marco would leave and then she'd be able to take a nap or something. "Fine," she said, walking past him out the door. "But we really don't need the water. I just meant this room was too small."

"What are you talking about?" Marco asked, following her out and closing the door.

"You'll see," Kuina said, sighing again. "So much for getting some rest."

Kuina led Marco up to the top deck, the same place they had started out.

"You know, if you wanted me to show you my moves we could have saved some time by not going all the way down into my room first," Kuina said on the way there, slightly irritated.

Marco chuckled a bit. "You honestly think I planned this talk out? I don't plan anything out. I just do what I feel is the right thing in the moment. Besides, what do you care? It's not like you have duties to attend to on the ship. You have absolutely no sailing or navigation skills. This is basically a free ride for you. When there's not a fight going on you basically just stand around and look cool all day." Marco reminded her, laughing louder now.

Kuina shot him a look, more annoyed now. She didn't need to be reminded of the fact that she felt like she was freeloading. "I never needed to know how to sail, I never needed a ship. You invited me to join your crew, knowing that I had dedicated my entire life to swordsmanship, and nothing else."

"Lighten up Kuina, I'm just messing with you. Whitebeard offered you a position here because this is the perfect place to hone your skills and carry on your master's legacy, and everyone here knows that. No one expects you to man the crow's nest."

Kuina looked away, feeling bad for her reaction. She walked on now. "Sorry, I just don't like to be teased. You're right. I'm not a sailor. I'm not a pirate. I stand around all day feeling like a poser. Like I'm not supposed to be here."

"Hey no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. It's just how I am."

As they were heading up the stairs to the top deck, a fat, laughing crewmember not paying attention lumbered down the stairs, knocking into Kuina, almost sending them both tumbling down the stairs if not for Marco. At first the crewmember seemed agitated, but as soon as he realized who he had bumped into to, along with her company, the look on his face shifted to fear in an instant.

"Oh, I am so sorry miss, uh, Raindodger," he stumbled, realizing he couldn't actually remember the girl's first name.

"It's Kuina," she said, getting her balance back and brushing herself off. "And it's fine, accidents happen."

"Hmm," said Marco, studying the crewmember in front of him. The man didn't look like much, an overweight, ragged pirate with unkempt hair. He was missing quite a few teeth. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

The man nodded, smiling widely. "Yessir, I just joined a few days ago. The name's Marshall D. Teach."

"Hm, D?" Marco raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, I have to go, got duties to attend to and all. Nice meeting you both," the man said abruptly, hastily scurrying away from the pair.

"He sure seemed to be in a rush all of the sudden," Kuina said, starting back up the stairs, thinking nothing of the encounter.

"Hmm," Marco murmured, looking off in the direction Teach had disappeared to.

"Something wrong?" Kuina asked, realizing he wasn't following.

"Just a weird feeling I got from that guy," he replied, but then sighed, walking up to join Kuina again. "Oh well, more important things to worry about. It's probably nothing anyway."

The two stepped up back onto the top deck, where the encounter between Ace and Kuina was quickly forgotten about. Already Kuina noticed that crewmembers had been tasked with repairing the holes on either side of the ship that resulted from their duel.

"Whitebeard was not happy about that," Kuina said, a little annoyed at herself for her apparent lack of restraint.

"This ship has seen much worse, trust me. I'm sure he's already over it."

"Well, I hope so," Kuina said, shortly before leaping up onto the wooden railing at the edge of the ship.

"What are you doing?" asked Marco, looking at her funny.

"Showing you the technique, like I said, I don't need to be on the water."

Kuina took a light step off the railing towards the sea, but to Marco's awe, along with anyone else who happened to be watching, she didn't fall. The young woman walked along confidently and unaltered, as if there was an invisible path in the air made solely for her.

"What in the world..." Marco said, frankly stunned.

"I don't actually walk on the water," Kuina explained, turning around to see Marco in midair. "I walk on the air above it. Jakon said that the original version of this technique involved kicking to stay up in the air for a long period of time. He also said that the original was incredibly flawed, that it had so much more potential than its creators saw. Jakon didn't steal their techniques, he perfected them. Using the same method that the creators used to kick off the air, Jakon found a way to stand on the air, indefinitely."

"That's incredible," Marco admitted. "I suppose I should have expected nothing less from Romanov, though."

"That's not even the best part," Kuina grinned slyly. "It's not only how I stay in the air, it's how I move so quickly," Kuina began to slide through the air, her figure becoming blurred for she was moving at unfathomable speeds in midair. Marco followed her movements as best he could, struggling to keep track of her. Finally she reappeared right in front of him, making him jump back a bit.

"I don't move during a fight, I don't walk or run on the ground, I glide through the air."

"So that's how you were able to dodge Vista's attack when he caught you off guard. You didn't step back, you moved yourself backward in the air."

Kuina nodded. "That's right. See? It's not that hard to understand. Doing it on the other hand, that takes years of practice."

Marco smiled, "You are really are something else." His smile quickly dropped, for he saw something beyond Kuina, out at sea. Something concerning. "Kuina, get back on the ship. Now."

Kuina noticed Marco's change of tone. "What? What's wrong?" she asked, turning back to look at whatever had him so worried.

There, off in the distance, through the fog, emerged not one, not two, but an armada of ships, heading their way. The fog had masked their advance.

"What the hell is this?" asked a crewmember who was looking on with Marco.

Shouts from the crow's nest revealed that the ships had only now been spotted. Kuina had spent enough time as an assassin to know a sneak attack when she saw one.

"It's an ambush," Kuina said plainly.

"Kuina," Marco said again, not wanting her out in the open. Around him, crewmembers were rushing to their stations.

"Give me a moment," Kuina said squinting, studying the sails of the ship at the head, recognizing not only the flag, but the faint image of the main standing at the head of the bow.

Kuina chuckled a bit, grinning widely. "The one contract I never finished. I can't tell if this is fate messing with me, or just a coincidence. Either way I'm excited."

"Kuina?"

"I was hired to kill that man. A supernova, and apparently a very skilled swordsman. I planned on doing it after I delivered the message to Whitebeard. Obviously, the contract was never completed," Kuina said, turning away from Marco, walking through the air towards the oncoming ship. "But it looks like I get to cross swords with him after all." Kuina then blasted away from the Moby Dick at high speed.

"Kuina! What are you doing?!" yelled Marco after her, but no words could quell her eagerness.

Marco's voice was nothing but a faint echo to her when she appeared at the bowsprit of the advancing ship, right in front of the man she knew to be the captain. The man jolted back, stunned by the appearance of the swordswoman.

"Doma," she said simply, smiling deviously at her enemy. "The Bohemian Knight."

The Captain eyed her cautiously, not knowing her intent. "I'm attacking you, but you sound like you were looking for me."

"I was looking for you," Kuina said, drawing her sword with trembling enthusiasm. "I was hired to kill you."

Doma smiled back now, "Well, I'm afraid you'll have to get in line. That one stretches across the seas."

Kuina shook her head. "Trust me, I'm the only one in line who matters."

Doma laughed now. "You're pretty cocky for someone I've never even heard of."

"You don't know my name, but you know who I am. I'm Kuina. The Raindodger."

Upon hearing the nickname, Doma's smile vanished. Kuina's only widened.

Kuina smirked. "You see, everyone knows me. They just don't know it yet."

"I have heard of you, what are you doing with the Whitebeards?" asked Doma, now serious.

Kuina turned to look at the Moby Dick, the ship she now called home, growing ever closer. "You know, for the past few months I've been in this crew, as far as swordsmen go anyways, all I've really done is fight posers and pretenders. It's been fun, don't get me wrong," she looked back to him now. "But you're the first one I'd consider a worthy opponent."

"You're not worthy to fight me. You're an assassin. Not a pirate. You're garbage who kills for money," Doma spat with disdain. "You're not in it for the thrill of adventure. You don't have a thirst for battle and glory. You don't have friends. You don't have dreams."

"I do now. You see," Kuina started, strolling along the bowsprit, not at all daunted or stung by Doma's insults. Doma kept a sharp eye on her, his hand on his sword. "I've always just been a title that everyone has heard of, but no one knew the name or face of, but now that I'm out of the contract business, I don't have to hide my identity anymore, so that'll change. You're wrong about me. I've always had dreams. It was once my greatest dream to become the world's greatest swordsman. That still is a dream. I still want that, very badly. I made a promise to a friend, and I plan to keep it."

Doma said nothing. He didn't know how to react. He had to admit it sounded admirable, and it was nothing he imagined a killer for hire would say.

"But I made another promise. One that means more to me than money, glory, friendship, or even the thirst for battle against a worthy opponent, such as yourself."

"And what is that?" asked Doma.

"Legacy," Kuina said simply. "Soon everyone will know my name, not just my title. But far more important than my legacy, is my master's, a man whose name history has wrongfully forgotten. Jakon. Romanov. The greatest swordsman who ever lived. That is the promise I made. I will carry on his legend. That is my new dream. It begins now."

Kuina lifted her saber in Doma's direction, practically bursting with excitement.

"And it starts with you."


	5. Common Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this flashback chapter, it is the day after Kuina made her promise with Zoro after their 2000th duel. This was the day she first met her future master, Jakon Romanov.

Chapter Four: Common Ground

` It was the morning after Kuina's fateful duel with Zoro in the woods, and Kuina was an absolute firebrand, even more so than usual that day. She viciously beat down every challenger that stepped to face her, showing no hesitation or restraint. Something had put a fire inside her, and this worried her father Koshiro, who followed her violent movements with a concerned look. What had happened that put her in such a mood? All eyes were on Kuina, so no one noticed when an unfamiliar figure drifted in after hearing commotion from outside. The man stood by and watched Kuina move fluidly, yet also furiously, striking down any man or woman who dared cross swords with her. She was a prodigy, any fool could see that, but just how good was she? The only way to find out was to face her himself.

When the last opponent fell, Kuina stood alone, breathing hard, still in her stance, waiting for someone else to approach. For a moment no one did, and it seemed Kuina's onslaught had come to an end for now. Still, she waited. When Koshiro realized Kuina had no intention of taking a break, he spoke up.

"Kuina, you shouldn't strain yourself. Take a rest."

Kuina turned back to him with a steely eyed glare, "I can go all day."

Koshiro just stared silently, knowing she was still hurt from his words last night.

"I bet you could," came a stranger's voice from behind Kuina.

She turned to see a slender old man in a coat that looked just as old. Long white hair reaching down from under his widely brimmed hat. Kuina hadn't even heard him step up, and by the look of everyone in the room, they hadn't heard him either. It was as if he just appeared there, materialized out of thin air.

"I remember when I was your age, I was the same way. I just hope you're not stupid and stubborn like I was too."

Kuina stared at the strange man. "Never seen you here before."

"Well, isn't that good thing? This way you're not facing the same people over and over all the time, people you already know you'll beat. Must be boring as hell," he knelt down, picking up the wooden sword left there by the last fighter before he retreated to safety. He pointed the practice sword at Kuina, "The unfamiliar is always so much more exciting."

"If you're going to fight me, you should at least hold the sword right," Kuina said, knowing that was no way to wield a katana, even if it was just wood.

"Trust me, it's not going to matter."

"Cocky old man. So sure you'll win?" Kuina said, taking her stance.

"Winning isn't even an afterthought to me," he said, not changing his form. "I just want to see if you're impressive as I think you are."

Koshiro didn't like any of this now, but he knew he couldn't stop his daughter. He had tried, and it only made her strike back harder.

"I won't go easy on you just because you're an elder. I will not lose."

"Will you shut up and come at me already?"

Kuina scowled and advanced swiftly on the newcomer. With each vicious slash and strike, the man parried easily, without trying to land an attack of his own. Frustrated, Kuina pushed harder, striking savagely at him with no end, until she got clumsy. The man parried her at just the right time to throw her off balance, sending her stumbling towards him. He caught her with his free hand and threw back, much to Kuina's shock and confusion.

"You're every bit as good as I thought, but don't lose focus," he said, as if tutoring her. "Try again."

Kuina came at him again, undeterred, and again, the man blocked her strikes. This time, however, he would do more than simply block. After parrying one of Kuina's blows, he snuck in his own slash, attempting to catch her off guard. Kuina spotted the move out of the corner of her eye, hastily sidestepping out of the way and back a few feet.

"Well done, quick on your feet."

"I'm not your student, and you're not my master. So quit it!" she yelled, charging him again.

They exchanged blows for a few more seconds before the stranger decided he had seen enough. He parried her attack once more, this time performing a swift flourish, knocking Kuina's sword from her hands. She watched helplessly as the wooden sword clattered to the floor on the other side of the room. She had been beaten. Kuina clenched her fists, her whole body beginning to shake.

"Don't beat yourself up kid, I've been doing this a lot longer than you."

Humiliated, Kuina burst forward, dashing past the man and headed outside.

"Kuina!" Koshiro called after her, standing up. This is what he was afraid would happen to her. As strong as Kuina was, her ego was surprisingly fragile.

Kuina was so caught up in herself she didn't see the hazard lying in her path, her own training sword that had been knocked away seconds before. She stepped on it going full speed, tangling her legs and sending her sprawling. Before she knew it she was in the air, on a head first collision course with the wooden stairs of the dojo. She should have crashed into them headfirst, breaking her neck and ending her short life, but sometimes things don't work out the way they should.

Kuina's descent suddenly came to a stop when an arm appeared from seemingly nowhere, wrapping around her waist and pulling her back into the dojo. In a wild blur Kuina was suddenly slung back to safety, stumbling backwards as the man abruptly released her from his grasp. She looked at him, bewildered, so astounded she didn't even think to thank him for saving her life, and he didn't ask for one. He had blown his cover. Whatever illusion he had going that he was just some normal old man who was good with a sword was over. The room was filled with suspicion, not gratitude, and he knew his time here was already done.

"Who are you?" Kuina asked the question on everyone's mind.

The man gave her a pained expression, knowing that there was no point to lying now.

"I am Jakon Romanov. A name I'm sure means nothing to you young lady."

"It does to me," said a stern Koshiro, rising to his feet. "I thought you looked familiar. I saw your name and face on those wanted posters all those years ago. You're a pirate, and a killer. I've heard terrible, awful tales about you."

"I'm sure most of them are true," Jakon said, making no protest or effort to defend himself.

Koshiro just stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to do with him, knowing someone of his power could destroy them all without breaking a sweat.

"I thank you for saving my daughter's life. I will not tell the Marines I saw you here, but you are not welcome in this dojo. You must leave."

Jakon nodded, "That's fair, fairer than I deserve." He looked to Kuina now, who was still stunned for obvious reasons. "Must be hard being a girl, trying to be a swordfighter. I know this sounds odd, coming from a man, but I know how you feel." He extended his hand. "A tremendous respect, as little as that must mean coming from me."

Kuina said nothing, but shook his hand awkwardly, still very caught off guard by all this. Without another word, he turned and left, closing the sliding door behind him. Koshiro appeared behind Kuina, or at least, it seemed like he did. Kuina was so consumed with what just happened she wasn't paying attention.

"Are you alright Kuina? You just had a brush with death."

"Uh, yeah, yeah I'm fine, but I'm gonna go lay down. I'm done for today," she said, turning to leave the room.

"Of course," Koshiro said after her.

Kuina wasn't going to her room, she snuck out the back. She didn't know if this was fate, random luck or what, but she had to find this man. She felt it in her heart he could help, and what he said to her just before leaving made her even surer. This was her chance, she didn't have time to stop and think about it. She had to find Jakon before he left town. She ran to the road, hoping to see a trace of him going in either direction. She looked both ways, but found no one resembling him. She had to choose a direction, but if she chose the wrong one she probably wouldn't have time to go back to check the other way, and she didn't have to think about it. She turned left, sprinting at full speed. She had to hope this really was fate and her instincts would guide her, either that or hope that her luck would hold up. Either way, she found what she was looking for. After a short time of running down the road, she spotted Jakon's unmistakable grey coat and hat from behind, and her heart leaped. She thought it foolish to shout his name, so she just kept running until she caught up with him. Jakon must have heard her steps, because he turned around to face her as he got closer.

"I had a feeling you'd come after me. I should've just kept my mouth shut," Jakon sighed.

Kuina took a moment, out of breath from running so hard. "I need . . . to talk to you," she said in-between pants.

"Well, you went through the trouble of chasing me down, so go ahead."

Kuina said what she felt as bluntly as possible. "I want you to teach me."

Jakon looked at her as bewildered as she did to him moments ago. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

"You heard your father kid, I'm a pirate. A killer. You don't want to learn from me."

"Yes I do," Kuina said defiantly, not letting this go. "You were right in there, they do think less of me for being a girl. They don't think I can do it, but you do. I know you do. You said you knew how I felt, even though you're not a girl. How?"

Jakon didn't answer, looking away. Getting involved didn't seem like a good idea to him. Her father clearly thought lowly of him, for good reason, and honestly, he didn't feel he deserved the honor of teaching anyone, let alone someone with as much potential as her.

"Listen, Kuina, that's your name right? I shouldn't have said that shit kid, I'm sorry I got you so riled up, but—"

"I'm not leaving," Kuina stood her ground. "I always knew I was meant to be a swordfighter. It's all I've ever wanted to do, and I made a promise to my friend that one of use would become the best. Last night, my father told me, because I'm a girl, I could never be the best, and then you show up the very next day, out of the blue, beat me, and tell me all that? I don't know if that's fate or just some crazy coincidence, but I know you can help me. I know you can help me prove them wrong! I know you can help me keep that promise."

Kuina confessed all to him. She just had to hope that she struck a cord somewhere, and that he still had a soul behind all that self-loathing and regret. Indeed, something about what she said seemed to strike him, and he winced, as if stung.

"Your own father told you that? To just abandon your dreams, and give up? Because you're a girl?"

Kuina nodded, the very thought of that memory bringing tears to her eyes, which she quickly brushed away. Jakon hung his head, clenching his fist in an empathetic anger.

"That son of a bitch . . ." he mumbled to himself, but Kuina could hear.

She didn't say anything though.

Jakon took a moment, and then spoke. "When I was young I was just like you, fiery, full of energy. All I ever wanted was to be a great swordfighter, but I was born frail, and small framed. I could never build up as much muscle as the other boys. My father was a soldier with many strong sons, and to him, I was a leper. He told me I should give up, that I was too weak to ever be a swordsman. It crushed me, but it didn't stop me. It just made me want prove him wrong."

There it was, a very, very common ground shared between them. Almost eerily so. Had something higher brought them together? Was this his chance for some sort of redemption? He had just proved Kuina's gut feeling. He had to teach her, even he had to see that now.

"You're really serious about this?"

"Of course I do, now more than ever. Now I know you understand. You were born frail, and I was born a girl. We both lack strength."

"There's more to swordsmanship than physical strength, depending on the technique, and the sword you're using. Come to the woods, later tonight. I'll find you. I'll show you how to make your opponent's strength mean absolutely nothing. We're gonna have to completely rework the way you fight though."

Kuina's heart was racing, her entire body shaking. This was all too good to be true.

"This should go without saying, but don't tell anyone. Especially not your father. You should get back, before they realized you snuck out to come talk to me."

He was right, if Kuina didn't get back soon they'd realize she was gone, and they'd get suspicious. "Thank you, this means everything to me. You won't regret it, I promise," she said, turning to sprint back to the dojo. "See you tonight!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," he warned, although, he wasn't sure he said it loud enough for her to hear, but it was largely to remind himself. He honestly had no idea how this was going to work out, and everything he touched had a tendency to fall apart around him. He watched her excitedly run off, desperately hoping she would be the exception. He knew she had potential, and a lot of it, but he could have never known what this would all amount to.


	6. Duel on the Burning Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amidst the ensuing battle on the sea, Kuina clashes in a swordfight with the notorious Doma, one of the pirate captains attacking the Moby Dick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Recap: This chapter is actually continuing from where the third chapter left off, because the last was a flashback, here's a quick reminder. The Whitebeard fleet has just been attacked by Doma and a series of other pirates, and Kuina ran off to challenge Doma directly as the battle ensued. That is where we begin. Honestly I feel that I shouldn't have split these chapters up now that I look back on it, but it's done now. I hope you enjoy and I appreciate old and new readers alike. I'll try my best to get a new chapter out sooner.

"Jakon Romanov?" Doma repeated the name Kuina had used, unsurprisingly confused.

Kuina was sure Doma, as a fellow swordsman, had heard of the legendary, mythical man, and knew he probably wouldn't believe her when she said she was his student. After all, he had no reason to, for no one had heard from the man for over a generation. Doma reacted about as Kuina had predicted. Doma stared at her blankly for a moment, not sure how to respond to her outlandish claim that she was his "legacy."

"If that's a joke, I don't get it. Or are you trying to impress me with that nonsense?"

"It's no joke," Kuina replied, taking her simplistic fighting stance. "You'll see that soon enough."

Doma just stood there silently, looking at Kuina's eager face. He wasn't sure what to think about this assassin anymore, whether she was serious or had simply lost her mind, but he wasn't one to back away from a challenge. Not from anyone. Doma smirked at his female adversary, drawing his cutlasses.

"Alright 'Raindodger.' Let's do it," he humored her, stepping onto the bowsprit with her.

"First one to fall off loses," Kuina said with an excited smile.

"You're not taking this seriously," Doma frowned, not wanting to be taken lightly. "This is no game lady."

"Of course not, it's a duel, and I take duels very seriously. I've only lost once you know."

"And who was that to?" Doma asked.

"My master, Jakon Romanov," Kuina said plainly, smirking a bit.

"Enough, no more jokes," Doma said.

Doma still didn't understand her confidence. The Raindodger was infamous for her speed, but as far as he knew she was an assassin who, like other assassins, thrived on surprise and shock tactics, not fair fights out in the open. On this bowsprit there was nowhere for her to run or dodge, so her superior speed would mean nothing. On top of all of that, she was facing a very notorious, renowned fighter, not some common thug. Whether this woman was just foolishly arrogant, or there was Doma something wasn't seeing, he wasn't entirely sure. Either way, Kuina showed no fear. She didn't even flinch in the presence of this apparently feared, imposing pirate. All attempts to make her waiver had failed.

"You're the challenger," Doma pointed out. "Don't you want to make the first move?"

"You really don't want me to do that," Kuina said confidently. "I can't promise you'd survive it, and I want this fight to last at least a little while."

"Arrogant girl," Doma said, visibly annoyed by that comment. "Fine, if you're so eager to die!"

Doma burst forward in a sudden surge at Kuina, waving both swords in a swift flourish. The way he saw it, there was nowhere to run, and she could only parry one strike if that, so he imagined at least one would get her. What Doma hadn't anticipated, however, was Kuina's acrobatic prowess. Before Doma's blades even came close to Kuina's flesh, she leapt high in the air, flipping over the stunned Doma, gently landing behind him on the wooden beam. Doma spun around swiftly to see Kuina make a powerful flourish through the air, which to Doma must have looked harmless, but he didn't expect Kuina to know the Rankyaku technique. A powerful shockwave erupted from the force of the strike, straight at Doma. Caught off guard and with nowhere to go, Doma had no choice but to try to deflect the blow with both his swords at once.

He managed it, but at a price.

The invisible blade was deflected off into the sea, taking one of Doma's cutlasses along with it, for the strength of the blow had forced the weapon from his grasp. The shockwave shot off into the direction of another, smaller ship that was in Doma's attacking fleet. Doma watched, distraught and awed, as Kuina's redirected attack tore right through the wooden vessel, cutting it almost entirely in half. The crew didn't even know what happened. One moment their ship was in perfect condition, having taken no fire, and the next it was completely destroyed. Within seconds the ship had sunken into the ocean.

Kuina let him watch, although it would otherwise be in her nature to strike while he was distracted, she wanted him to see the full extent of what she was capable of. Doma turned back to Kuina now, his expression changed. It wasn't fear in his eyes, it was uneasiness. The only other swordsman he ever met who could cut a ship in half like that was Mihawk, and now this woman, although the ship Mihawk destroyed was much larger. The difference that he saw immediately, was that Mihawk managed the feat with his phenomenal strength, but as he looked at this woman, he knew that type of power could not come from her slender, feminine stature. The advantage most men had over women, and the one her father Koshiro saw, was that men had superior strength, and if Kuina had tried to fight the same way the men were taught, she would have been left behind. She could never possess Mihawk's strength, and that's why her style, Jakon's style, didn't favor strength. Kuina had created that attack from pure speed and precise technique. Doma, however, couldn't possibly wrap his head around that in such a short span of time, so he was outright dumbfounded.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Doma asked, realizing now how badly he had underestimated this foe.

"Jakon Romanov," Kuina said slyly.

"Why do you keep saying that?! It's not funny!" Doma lashed, charging at Kuina once more.

"It's not a joke!" Kuina taunted him, easily dodging each strike Doma made at her.

Doma didn't understand why he wasn't even making contact with Kuina, for she was standing right in front of him. Her body moved swiftly and unnaturally, just as it had when she had fought Ace not long before. Physically, her body bending movements were impossible and absolutely baffling, and Doma no doubt realized that her nickname was not as much of an exaggeration as he thought. This dodging technique was like nothing he had ever seen. Yet another way Kuina made up for her lack of strength, for if her enemy could not even land a hit on her, their strength meant absolutely nothing. Kuina then lifted her leg, delivering a swift kick into the chest of Doma. He stumbled back, almost losing his balance and falling off the beam. Kuina could have advanced on him and finished it, but she chose not to. Why? Doma was beyond frustrated, he felt like he was being played with. Kuina was in complete control of this fight and he didn't understand how. How was she doing any of this? None of it seemed possible. And coming from this woman of all people, an assassin who he wasn't even sure really existed until moments ago. Was she truly on a completely higher level than him? If so, why had he not heard about her? Why was she only coming to the surface now?

"Even if you defeat me, the battle won't be won," Doma said. "An entire fleet has amassed to challenge Whitebeard, and this ship is only one of them. I just command this ship, there are other leaders. We have you greatly outnumbered, and beating me will change nothing."

"I know, but I'm not worried about my comrades. We have the best fighters alive, many of them as good as me, and others who have power beyond your imagination. It doesn't matter how many ships or people you have. You could have every ship in the world, and you still would stand no chance. I came to challenge you because I wanted the pleasure of fighting you myself. I've heard of you, and I hoped you'd be capable of more than this." Kuina said, trying her best to sound disappointed. "At least give me a challenge."

"You want a real fight? Fine. No more fancy, dirty tricks, no more running away. Stand and fight, and we clash swords until one of us falls. Then we'll see who the superior swordsman truly is."

"Those 'fancy, dirty tricks' are intricate techniques that took years to learn, and even longer to perfect. Just because you're not familiar with them doesn't make them unfair, but fine. We'll fight on your terms. I'm always up for a challenge," Kuina agreed, stepping forward.

They stood across from each other, on opposite sides of the wooden beam from when they started just a moment ago. Kuina had agreed to stand and fight toe to toe, which is not what her technique was designed for, but like she said, she enjoyed a challenge. Doma had lost one of his blades, so now it was almost like a proper duel, the kind that reminded her of her days a samurai in training at her father's dojo, only neither of them were using a katana. Those days were so long ago now they seemed like a different lifetime. Life had changed so drastically, you'd she had entered into some surreal dream. Even her sword style and her weapon had changed. Jakon's technique wasn't able to be performed effectively with a katana, for it was too heavy and required both hands, so Kuina had to learn to use a different type of sword entirely. She was no longer a samurai, but she was still a swordsman. There was nowhere for her to go using that style, no place to advance. If Jakon had not come along and she continued using the same style, Zoro would have eventually outmatched her. The only one she ever dueled who used multiple swords was Zoro, and he even used three, not two, which sounds nonsensical, and it sort of was. She remembered how ridiculous he looked, trying to use that sword effectively in his mouth, but he was stubborn. That's what she liked about him. She wondered if he ever got that crazy technique of his to work properly. But the time to reminisce was not now. Now she had a fight to finish.

This time, Kuina struck first, landing on a barrage of quick blows, hoping to find a hole in Doma's defense early, but Doma was no novice. He deflected each blow with ease and countered, which Kuina deflected in turn. It went on like this for a few moments, with each fighter striking at the other and blocking the others attack, and Kuina, who had not engaged in a fight such as this since she was a child, found herself out of practice and beginning to fatigue. Not her blade nor her technique were meant to block blows like this again and again, but she wasn't about to give in now, and she certainly wasn't going to break their agreement. She wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing she went back on her word. In her eyes, that was admitting defeat. If she couldn't beat Doma on the agreed terms, she would always see this encounter as a loss. Perhaps this time, however, she had let her arrogance get the better of her. To lose now would be humiliating to say the least.

Doma was confident he had the advantage now, for he saw signs of Kuina tiring, and eventually he thought he would overpower her. If it went on like that, perhaps he would have been the one to prevail, but outside forces soon interfered. For a moment, both Kuina and Doma seemed to forget they were in the middle of a naval battle, with ships exchanging and receiving cannon fire.

The ship they were on was about to be on the receiving end.

A volley of cannonballs shot out from the guns of Moby Dick, and while most of the blast went wide of Doma's ship, a number of the projectiles found their target. The ship shook from the impact, causing Doma, who was in midstrike, waiver and struggle to regain his footing. Kuina, with her superior balance, would not let this chance slip away. She advanced on Doma while he was thrown off guard, and then Kuina was suddenly on the attack, forcing Doma backward. He tried to fight her off, but Kuina had gained too much momentum, and backed her opponent to the edge of the bowsprit. Finally Kuina managed to disarm Doma of his remaining cutlass, knocking it away as he attempted to counterattack. Kuina then turned on Doma, holding him captive She had won, but just barely.

Doma stared at his exhausted adversary for a moment, quite tired himself, and couldn't help but smile. Then he began to chuckle, much to the confusion of Kuina. Why was he laughing? He had just lost. Was there some trick he had up his sleeve?

"I think you lucked out a bit there," Doma said, not nearly as upset as Kuina figured he'd be.

Kuina stood there panting, not sure how to respond at first.

"Yeah, maybe," Kuina admitted, a smile forming on her face as well.

And the two just stood there laughing to themselves, sharing a strange moment of mutual respect as a fierce battle raged on around them. Kuina wasn't sure where to go from here, it's not as if she had planned any of this out, and things had ended on a bit of an unexpected note. The strange, peaceful moment was dashed in an instant, however, when a nearby ship suddenly exploded in a violent, fiery inferno. Kuina had a feeling who was responsible for the blast, and wasn't surprised to see Portgas D. Ace rampaging across the battlefield, setting fire to everything in his path. Hopefully this meant that Ace had finally accepted his destiny in the crew of Whitebeard, but Kuina wasn't about to get her hopes up. At the very least, Ace was fighting for them, not against them. Kuina was exhausted, but the fight was not yet done, and she wasn't about to let Ace have all the fun. She looked to Doma, a serious expression on her face once more.

"Are you going to make me kill you?" Kuina asked, knowing he could continue to fight on if she left.

Doma let out a sigh, still wearing a bit of a smirk.

"No. You won, I lost. I won't disgrace myself. I will surrender with dignity."

Kuina nodded, choosing to trust his word on it. She was about to depart when Doma spoke again.

"Hey Raindodger," he called out.

Kuina turned to face Doma, the New World Sea burning just behind her.

"Did you really train under Jakon Romanov? The Phantom? The first Shichibukai?"

Kuina answered with a strong nod.

Doma shook his head a bit, "You know what? I might actually believe you. You're something else," he admitted.

Kuina smiled in response. "I know." With that, she turned and dashed off across the water to continue the battle.

"Cocky little shit," Doma said, more amused than annoyed.

Kuina joined Ace in the fire and chaos, fighting side by side with him for the first, but certainly not the last time. The battle would become famous, and Kuina and Ace would be at the center of that renown. It would be remembered as the day Ace showed his allegiance to the Whitebeards for the first time, and as the day the identity of the Raindodger was finally revealed to the world. No longer a shadowy assassin, Kuina the Raindodger would be known across the world as a New World pirate, and soon enough the news would spread to a certain, humble village located in the vast East Blue, a village with a tombstone that read "Kuina" above an empty grave.


	7. The Death of a Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The childhood home of Kuina and Zoro is rocked by a turbulent revelation, delivered by Tashigi and the mysterious World Government agent Laskey. They believe Koshiro's daughter and the New World pirate named Kuina are one in the same, and they are searching for proof. How will Zoro and Koshiro react to this unbelievable news?

A small village in the East Blue, the childhood home of Zoro and Kuina was a generally a quiet, peaceful place, unbothered by the strife of the rest of the world. So it was considered a both strange and worrying sight when a group of Marines, headed by an official looking man in a suit, made their way to the town's somewhat famous dojo.

It was about to get much more famous.

Among the marines was the still rather green recruit, Tashigi. Previously she had been placed in charge of this information gathering mission as one of her first assignments, but things had changed. The Raindodger had revealed herself to now be a powerful member of Edward Newgate's crew, and not only that, but it was reported she was using techniques that were supposed to only be known to elite World Government agents. The World Government has eyes everywhere, and took notice immediately. As a result, an agent of the World Government had stepped in to take charge of the investigation, not only to learn who this woman was, but how she came to have these abilities. The agent was an aged man known only to Tashigi as Laskey. Tashigi knew nothing of him beyond that, not even the branch of government he served. All very secretive, need to know information. The World Government liked to keep everyone in the dark, even their subordinates. There were rumors that he had been involved in the "Ohara Incident," but Tashigi wasn't about to ask him if they were true. If there was one thing Tashigi knew, however, is that she wasn't overly fond of the man. Cold and calculating to the extreme, he displayed no emotion, and no personality beyond completing his mission. Tashigi had hoped to be removed from this investigation entirely, for it was unnerving to her to track a woman who looked exactly like her, but they had decided to keep her along for the ride. A valuable piece of information had come out. Thanks to Tashigi's previous efforts, they had a face, and now they had a name.

Kuina.

A massive investigation ensued, and the Raindodger's knowledge of these forbidden techniques was considered a massive breach of security. Every lead was looked into, and it wasn't long before they came across the records of a young deceased girl named Kuina, the daughter of a small dojo master named Koshiro. Usually time would not be wasted looking into the affairs a dead girl, but once they saw pictures of her face, the likeness was too much to ignore. She would be about the right age, her name was Kuina, she looked exactly like the Raindodger, she had come from a history of swordsmanship, and there were unconfirmed reports of a certain person of interest a decade earlier. A certain Jakon Romanov. Right around when the girl supposedly died. Too many coincidences to just dismiss. This had to be looked into. And just like that, Tashigi and her new "friend' had a new target. It was not lost on Tashigi that she looked almost exactly like the dead girl, and she was to aid in the questioning of her father. She was not looking forward to the encounter.

Finding Koshiro turned out to be even easier than expected, as he was standing outside the dojo as the group approached, speaking to a young, green-haired swordsman. Koshiro and the man both noticed the very conspicuous group from a mile off. Koshiro stepped forward to greet the group, while the man stood by in the background, wearing a suspicious look. Whenever a man in a suit came to your door with heavily armed soldiers, it usually didn't mean good news.

"Can I help you?" Koshiro asked simply, standing across from Laskey, who stood with authority, both hands behind his back and looking straight ahead, wearing shades so his eyes could not bee seen.

"Are you Koshiro, the owner of this dojo?" Laskey asked directly.

No greeting, no introduction, no manners. Straight to the point.

"I am."

Instead of continuing, Laskey simply looked to his right where Tashigi was standing, giving a slight nod. Following his gaze, Koshiro also turned to Tashigi, and was given quite a shock by the sight. His eyes had been on Laskey the whole time, not on the woman next to him, who he had just realized bore a striking resemblance to his deceased daughter. Tashigi could feel his eyes on her, and knew exactly what he was thinking as she spoke up. She had a job to do.

"Master Koshiro, my name is Tashigi, and this is Laskey. We are here on behalf of the World Government. We're here to speak to you about your daughter," Tashigi said, realizing how unbelievably disturbing that sounded coming from her of all people.

This caught the attention of the man standing behind Koshiro instantly, and for a moment Koshiro said nothing, for he was dumbstruck by the request.

"Are you stupid? She's dead," the man said rather rudely.

"Zoro," Koshiro turned to back to him, a stern look on his face. "There must be a mistake, my daughter has been dead for over a decade," Koshiro continued, returning to face the newcomers.

"Yes, that's what we're here to talk to you about. You see, several weeks ago a mysterious criminal known as "The Raindodger" appeared in the New World. Previously known as an assassin, she has for some reason turned to piracy, under the command of the notorious pirate captain, Edward Newgate, aka Whitebeard. It was also then that we finally learned her name, and, well. . ." Tashigi struggled to find the words.

"I don't understand what this has to do with my daughter," Koshiro interrupted.

"Umm, please take a look at this, sir. It's her wanted poster." Tashigi said, handing him a piece of rolled up paper.

Koshiro took the paper, and the man called Zoro approached from behind, equally as curious. The old dojo owner unrolled the poster to reveal a sight both disturbing and mind-blowing. On the paper was a woman who looked alarmingly like his own daughter, only older, the age she would be now. Under the image was the pirate's name, title, and bounty amount.

Kuina "The Raindodger." The bounty was 250 million beri, dead or alive.

Zoro and Koshiro stood speechless, gaping at the poster with a disbelieving expression. An unbelievable coincidence, Koshiro thought, and even more so because the paper was delivered by another woman who looked exactly like Kuina, but it couldn't possibly be anything more. Zoro, on the other hand, did not share his denial. All logic stood against it, but his gut feeling told him it was her, and he always went with his gut feelings. But how could it be?

"Well, that certainly is quite astonishing," Koshiro said, rolling up the paper and returning it to Tashigi. "But as I told you, my daughter is dead."

"You know what I find very interesting, Koshiro?" Langley suddenly spoke up again. "Your daughter, according to all reports and records, was an absolute prodigy in swordsmanship. She was young, healthy, and full of life. Then, out of nowhere, she dies under mysterious circumstances. She simply falls ill and perishes, and you never gave us anymore information beyond that."

"It was a private, very tragic matter. She received a private burial, and I didn't wish to speak more of it," Koshiro claimed.

"What I find even more interesting," said Laskey, ignoring Koshiro and continuing, "is that there were unconfirmed sightings of the missing, but still wanted pirate and master swordsman, Jakon Romanov, in this very village, ten years ago, at the same time your daughter died. Then, a few months later, there was another sighting of Jakon Romanov, but this time, in the company of a young, raven haired girl about the same age as your daughter. And now, we have this young, female pirate, who looks exactly like your daughter, using the same techniques as Jakon Romanov, and now publicly introduces herself as his student and legacy to everyone she meets. What do you think of that, Master Koshiro?" Laskey asked, advancing on him, until he stood only inches away. "Because I honestly think that's one too many coincidences."

Koshiro didn't reply, only staring directly into Laskey's orange tinted glasses. What this man was telling him was absolutely impossible. He remembered Jakon's visit all those years ago, and how intrigued his daughter was with the man, but to somehow fake her death and run away with him, well it was unthinkable.

"I'm not a fool, I know what you're implying. It's preposterous. My daughter is dead. I saw her body myself. I laid her to rest myself."

"Maybe you're in on it," Laskey bluntly accused.

"How dare you, that's ridiculous." Koshiro said defensively.

Koshiro was a patient man, but it was now at its end. Laskey had no manners, and no respect for the sensitivity of the situation. Laskey stared at Koshiro intently, studying everything he knew about the man's character so far.

"You're right," Laskey eventually conceded. "That is ridiculous. If you approved, why would she bother faking her death? She could have just left, but you would never allow that, would you? That's why she did it," Laskey said, only talking because he had just figured it out himself. "She wanted to get away from you. To do that to your own father. She must have hated you."

"That's enough!" Koshiro lashed out.

Zoro surged forward, throwing both arms forward in a hard, violent push. Laskey just let it happen, taking a few steps backward from the force, but had no reaction beyond that. He didn't even look at Zoro, never breaking focus from Koshiro. As far as he was concerned, Zoro wasn't even there.

"You better get the hell out of here if you know what's good for you!" Zoro claimed, obviously not knowing who he was dealing with.

Laskey ignored Zoro, unworried by his threats. Tashigi felt ashamed to be associating with such a callous, mean spirited individual, but she said nothing. As much as she didn't want this, she wanted to get fired even less, and Laskey definitely held that kind of power.

"When your daughter died, what did you do with her?" Laskey asked. "You buried her, correct?"

Koshiro didn't appreciate his tone or choice of words regarding his deceased daughter, nor did Tashigi.

"Yes, we buried her," answered Koshiro, fed up with Laskey's behavior.

"Take us there."

Koshiro didn't like this, but he knew he had little choice. "Seeing her grave for yourself, will that be proof enough for you? Will it end your absurd theories disgracing the name of my daughter?"

"It might," Laskey said, making no guarantees.

Koshiro eyed Laskey harshly, then shifted to Tashigi, who for the first time in her Marine career, felt like she was on the wrong side morally. She understood that hard things must be done sometimes, but this treatment was absolutely unnecessary. She hated this Laskey man more and more with each passing moment, same as Koshiro and Zoro.

"Fine," Koshiro agreed. "Stay here, Zoro."

"No, I'm coming with you. I don't trust these bastards one bit."

Koshiro just nodded, too preoccupied to argue. Koshiro reluctantly led the group to his family's private cemetery, in a modest, hidden area behind the dojo and home. Zoro kept a close eye on every one of them, particularly the woman who shared such a strange resemblance to the woman in question. Tashigi felt awful, they were unwanted guests in a sacred ground. Laskey had crossed so many lines that even she was at a breaking point. They came to the very last and most recently placed tombstone, bearing Kuina's name. Seeing as Kuina was Koshiro's only child, he always knew that once he died, he would be the last addition to this graveyard.

"Satisfied now?" Koshiro asked Laskey, who stood over the grave.

Laskey stood there for a moment, silently studying the impressive stone. Then he just sighed, taking off his shades so his eyes could be seen for the first time, and turned to Koshiro so he could see his face.

"Koshiro, I hope you can believe me when I say this is absolutely nothing personal, and I really don't want to have to do this." Laskey said honestly, before turning back to the grave.

Before anyone could react, Laskey brought down his fist and struck the ground with such force it blasted the ground apart, leaving a large hole in the ground. None of them had ever seen such a powerful strike before, shielding themselves from the bits of ground that had been sent flying in all directions. Revealed now at the bottom of the hole lied a noticeably unsealed coffin, as the top had been blown halfway off from the force of the blast. Laskey saw this, but the others didn't. All they saw was a man desecrate a grave.

Koshiro stood speechless, too horrified to respond. Zoro had conflicting feelings, for the idea of digging up Kuina's grave was an infuriating dishonor to her memory, but another part of him desperately needed to know the truth of his friend's fate. Tashigi, on the other hand, was distraught by Laskey's actions. Enough was enough.

"You soulless bastard!" she suddenly screamed, lashing out at her superior. "I won't tolerate this madness!"

Laskey, instead of berating or disciplining her, simply ignored her, and jumped to the bottom of the hole. Tashigi, blinded by her anger, ran up to the hole and looked in, Zoro joining her at her side. She looked into the grave, and her expression changed. Zoro didn't know how to react. Laskey removed the loose top from the coffin, revealing it had been pried open long ago. The coffin was empty, just as Laskey knew it would be.

Kuina's death had been a lie. A conspiracy quite literally in their own backyard.

Zoro, Koshiro, and countless others had mourned for a girl who was not only alive, but had abandoned them years ago. Prayers were said and flowers were left for nothing but an empty wooden box. Koshiro finally joined Tashigi and Zoro at the hole, his expression growing even more horrified than before. He was struck silent. Words escaped him.

"Well, that proves it then," Laskey said calmly, unsurprised by his discovery.

"Kuina . . ." was all Zoro could say, his mind in shambles. Everything he had known about his friend was blown to shit. She was alive, and he had dedicated so much of his life to the memory of someone who had left him. Why would she do this? How could she do this? All that time that grave was empty. All that time. That grave. Was empty. These past ten years he had wanted so much for her to still be alive, but now that she really was, all he felt was emptiness. Kuina had lied to him. She made a fool out of everyone who ever loved her. The pain, the mourning, the grief, it was a lie. Kuina's death was a pivotal moment for Zoro, an event that changed him as a person forever.

And it was a lie.

"Oh my god," said the awed Tashigi.

Laskey had done a terrible, awful thing, but because of it the truth was now known. Was it worth it? She wasn't sure. She didn't know what to feel. This whole situation was ugly and awful, and she hated being a part of it. She just wanted to close this chapter of her life. But she couldn't. Her fate was tied to Kuina's more than she realized. She would never be able to escape this.

Laskey casually leapt from the hole, joining the others.

"I honestly don't know how to react," Koshiro said honestly.

"Well, your daughter's alive, so maybe you should be happy, but she lied to you and abandoned you, so maybe you should be angry. It makes no difference to me. But your daughter is a pirate, and we will do everything in our power to capture her. Maybe you can come visit her in prison, if she is not executed that is," Laskey said callously, as if he did not understand the meaning of his words, or maybe he just didn't care. For an agent of the World Government he was viciously honest about his intentions.

Koshiro slowly turned to Laskey, who honestly didn't know what to expect to come out of Koshiro's mouth.

"Get out of my sight."

Laskey shrugged, "That's fair. Come along Tashigi. Our work here is done. The identity of the Raindodger is confirmed." he said while departing, choosing to forgive her of her previous outburst.

Tashigi looked at the two people they had just put through so much trouble, a sadness in her eyes.

"I can't imagine what you're both feeling right now. I'm sorry about this. I really am," she admitted, wanting to say more, but not knowing what. "I'm sorry," she repeated helplessly, running off after her superior.

Neither Zoro nor Koshiro moved for quite some time, even after they both disappeared from sight. A part of Zoro was of course happy Kuina was alive, but another part of him hated her. Maybe it was her fault, maybe it wasn't, but an anger now burned inside of him. An anger that would not be satisfied until he got answers, until he found Kuina. He would find her. He would make it his mission in life to find her. The girl who he thought he knew. The girl who had lied to him in the cruelest way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Be sure to tell me your thoughts. I've always noticed that as stories go on feedback becomes scarcer, and while this is inevitable, the less feedback I get the worse off I am. If just a few of you could tell share your thoughts each chapter it would be more than enough.


	8. Kuina and Ace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Moby Dick is about to set sail again after it had made port days earlier, but during roll call, Ace is discovered missing. Kuina and a large portion of the crew scour the city in search for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I've mentioned this before, but this whole story was greatly inspired by the song "When You Were Young" by the Killers, and that will never be clearer than in this chapter. Listen to it if you like, and you'll definitely understand. That song really gets to me, and so does this chapter.

Several months had passed since the massive battle that had quickly become famous, and things had changed quite a bit aboard the Moby Dick, at least for Kuina. For one, it had made her famous, not only by her title, as it was before, but now by name and face. In terms of notoriety, she was now on par with the most known members of Whitebeard's pirate crew, and her name was fresh on everyone's lips. As pirates go, more fame means a higher bounty, and Kuina's saw her jump from the measly 30 million had been before, all the way up to 250 million. Over a 200 million beri increase, all at once. A spike that significant was practically unheard of, as usually bounties climb bit by bit after each new crime. This was for a few reasons, the first being she had gone from being a shadowy assassin that only killed other criminals, to revealing herself as a member of one of the most, if not the most, well-known, feared pirate crews in the Grand Line. The strange change in profession had criminals and world government officials familiar with her exploits scratching their heads.

The second reason was due to the details of her abilities finally coming to light, and not just because of how absurdly powerful an opponent she would be, although that was certainly part of it. More than anything else, however, it was the nature of her abilities that had turned her into such a massive public enemy of the World Government. Rokushiki was supposed to be a top secret technique, and most people, even criminals and pirates, had never even heard of it, only the strongest or most well informed, and even they didn't know the techniques themselves. Only elite agents and the top of the top Marines were supposed to be familiar with them, but now someone outside the World Government, and a pirate no less, was using these abilities against them. Something like that couldn't be tolerated, and as a result Kuina had become a priority for either capture or elimination. Her mere existence was seen as an embarrassment, and the World Government wanted her removed immediately.

Unfortunately for them, she was a member of the Whitebeards now, and no bounty hunter alive was stupid enough to make a move on her while she was on the Moby Dick. It would mean taking on the entire crew, and some of the strongest people alive were on that ship and with even higher bounties than Kuina. Even if they managed to somehow kill or capture her while she was ashore and alone, they would have to deal with the massive retaliation that would undoubtedly follow, so it simply wasn't worth it. The World Government would either have to raise her bounty to such an absurd level that someone would be willing to take such an insane risk, or deal with the threat in a more direct, creative fashion.

The other reason Kuina's life had changed was because, against all odds and previous hostilities, Ace and Kuina had gone from bitter enemies to being on the verge of becoming friends. They had both impressed the other during their duel, and Kuina realized how much he reminded her of Zoro, at least at first. He too had at first earned dislike from her due to his rude, arrogant, and stubborn nature, although Kuina herself was at least two of those things. After Ace eventually accepted his place in Whitebeard's crew, he began to reveal his true personality, which was much more respectful than he at first made himself out to be. In truth, he was actually quite the gentleman, and a very kind individual. This shift in attitude admittedly impressed Kuina, but as stubborn as she was, she still hadn't entirely forgiven him. It wasn't just that though, that had changed Kuina's perspective of Ace. Shortly after the battle and Kuina's duel with Doma, Marco finally got around to telling her the truth about Ace, as Whitebeard had instructed. Whitebeard thought that this would help her better understand him, and find common ground with him, and he was right. For so much of his life, Ace had been ashamed of who he was, and Kuina knew that feeling all too well.

The truth was before she met Jakon, Kuina was ashamed of being a girl. Boys were supposed to be one way, girls the other, and Kuina had never fit into that. She hated being a girl. She hated the way people looked at her because of it. She would dress like a boy, act like a boy, and always wore her hair short. She acted twice as tough as the boys just to make up for it, but it was never enough. She was looked down upon and underestimated her whole life, even as a prodigy. The belief she would hit her ability ceiling as a female was always expected. A great anger, a deep resentment grew within her, not only at the world for treating her like a lesser, but at herself just for being a girl. It was hardly her fault, being born a girl, but she hated herself for it anyway. It wasn't until she met Romanov, when she learned not only how to remove her feminine features as a weakness, but to use them to her advantage, did she finally embrace her gender. She was still something of a tomboy, she would never be very feminine, it just wasn't in her nature, but she no longer felt ashamed to be a woman.

Like Ace, she too eventually learned to accept herself for what she was, and was all the happier for it. Marco made sure Kuina understood how sensitive a secret this was, as only a few people on the whole ship knew the truth about Ace. Kuina couldn't even talk to Ace about it, because he didn't know that she knew, and she was forbidden from mentioning it to him. Whether Kuina acknowledged it or not, her and Ace were a strange pair of parallels, and not only because of their own identities, but because they both shared a similar influence in their lives. Two stubborn boys who changed them forever and helped give them purpose.

The Moby Dick had been docked for quite some time in one of the many port cities in the Grand Line, and they were about to cast off. That is, until a discovery was made. Ace was missing, and they couldn't very well leave without him. Now there were Whitebeard pirates all over the city looking for Ace, and Kuina was one of them. Kuina hoped Ace didn't decide to desert the crew, as she was only just starting to warm up to him, and an act as dishonorable as abandoning his comrades would just reinforce her previous, unfavorable opinion of him. Although, she had done her own fair share of leaving people. Also, not that she'd ever admit it, but she'd miss Ace if he left. She had grown attached to his antics, similarly as she did to Zoro's when she was young. When she spotted Ace on the street walking in her direction, she was relieved, but also understandably annoyed. He had kept them waiting and there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. As soon as Ace saw her face, he knew he was in trouble.

"Hey!" Kuina shouted, accosting him. "You know half the crew is wandering around the city trying to find you? Where the hell have you been?"

"Relax lady, I just lost track of time, and I got a little lost. Give me a break, everything in this city looks the same," Ace admitted, folding his arms behind his head.

"You know if you were just a normal member of the crew we would have left without you!"

"I don't think Whitebeard would do that to anyone in his crew," Ace said back, considering he considered them all his family.

Ace was probably right, Whitebeard wasn't like most captains, but that wasn't the point.

"It doesn't matter, by being late you're wasting everyone's time!"

Ace scowled, sick of being berated by Kuina. It was how their relationship started, and although it had improved, Kuina was still pretty hard on him.

"Of all the people who had to find me it had to be you. It was an accident. You always get so worked up over everything," Ace said, looking away from her to avoid her harsh stare.

And that's when he saw it. On the bulletin board on the side of the street. A familiar face on the new wanted posters that were just put up. A truly unmistakable face.

"Hey! No way!" Ace suddenly exclaimed, turning and dashing towards the board.

Kuina watched him go, feeling totally ignored. She looked at him disbelievingly. Had he really just took off while they were talking? And after already wasting so much time? Her eyes went from wide to very, very narrow. Before she was irritated, but now she was just plain mad. Now he was just being obnoxious.

"HEY!" she yelled, going after him.

She joined him at the bounty board, to find him for totally ecstatic for some reason. He was looking intently at a particular poster. It certainly wasn't the amount of money that had caught his eye, for the bounty was just a measly 30 million beri. She figured he had to know the person. The poster read "Monkey D. Luffy." Kuina had never heard of him, but that wasn't surprising seeing that the bounty was so small. In the New World, 30 million was chump change, but these posters got shipped and distributed everywhere in the world.

"Ace?" Kuina asked, now more curious than angry.

"This is my brother!" Ace said to her, a huge smile on his face.

"Your brother?" Kuina raised an eyebrow, thinking that would mean Gold Roger had more than one child, which seemed very unlikely.

"Well, not by blood, but we grew up together. We promised that we would both become great pirates when we were kids! I left a couple years before him, but it looks like he finally made it!"

"I see. A promise huh?" Kuina said, being reminded of her own.

"I'm taking this with me!" Ace said, tearing down the poster.

Now she was thinking about Zoro again. She wished she left him on good terms like Ace apparently did with his brother. If Ace and his brother reunited, she imagined it'd be a magical, joyful moment. If she ever ran into Zoro, well, she didn't want to think about how he'd react. She wanted badly to see him again, but at the same time, the last thing she wanted to do was face him. She often wondered if she should have told Zoro about her plan, but ultimately chose not to for fear of him coming after her. He was stubborn and determined like that, and Kuina knew he wouldn't understand. To him, he would have seen it as her abandoning him, but that just wasn't true. Kuina had to take her own path, make her own way in life. She couldn't take the risk of him coming after her, and she knew he wouldn't understand, so she decided not to tell him. It was a hard choice, but one she had to live with. If they met again, would he be mad? Or would he just be glad she's alive? Kuina was nervous just thinking about it. She wondered what had become of Zoro. Was he still living by the promise they had made to each other, even though he thought she was dead? Was he still at the village? Or had he too left to find his own way? She would soon have her answer.

Not a second later a man's arm thrust forward beside her, slamming another poster onto the board. Kuina jumped, whipping around to see the man nail the poster up with a sharp strike of his hammer. Whether or not he just didn't recognize the two wanted pirates standing before him or just didn't care was on Kuina's mind as he proceeded to then walk away without saying a word. Out of curiosity, she looked to the poster that the man had pinned up. At first the face didn't register to her, like something wasn't quite clicking in her brain. Then she read his name.

"Pirate Hunter" Ruronoa Zoro.

Kuina felt her heart leap, sink, turn and twist all at the same time. She just stood in place, wide-eyed and silent, gaping at her old friend's face. The last time she saw him he couldn't have been more than ten or eleven. He was always so juvenile. Such a kid. To see him now, fully grown. It was surreal.

"Kuina?" Ace asked, noticing her distraught state. "You okay?"

Kuina didn't even hear him. An alarming thought ran across her mind. If she was seeing his bounty poster here, it was just as likely he had seen hers wherever he was. He could have just thought it was some crazy coincidence, but for there to be another swordswoman named Kuina that looked exactly like his childhood friend in the world? What were the chances of that? No, Zoro wasn't stupid. Stubborn and a bit thick-headed, but not stupid. Kuina was one of the most wanted pirates in the world now. If Zoro was a pirate now too, there was no way he hadn't seen her poster, which meant he already knew she was alive. This proved it. They were destined to meet again. But when? It was so exciting, but absolutely terrifying as well.

"Kuina!" Ace said more sharply this time, giving her a small shove.

"Huh?" Kuina spun around to him, totally out of sorts.

"The hell is wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost."

Kuina stared at him blankly for a moment before turning back to the poster.

"This man, he's . . . I know this man," she barely got out. "He was, well, I guess he was my best friend when I was a girl. Never really thought about it at the time, but he was also my rival. We . . . we both promised each other one of us would become the world's greatest swordsman. He gave me a reason to keep going when I was about to quit," Kuina confessed, feeling like her chest was on fire.

"Seriously? So he's like your brother then?"

"I never thought about it like that, but I guess."

"So why are you so doom and gloom? You should be happy! He made it, you're gonna see him again someday."

"Because I ran away. I abandoned him. Without saying goodbye."

Ace's jubilant face changed to look more like his friend's. Kuina was a lot of annoying things. Arrogant, stuck up, and a little cold, but she wasn't cruel. He couldn't imagine her betraying her best friend like that.

"Why?" Ace asked.

"It seemed like the right thing at the time. Things were complicated. I couldn't stay, but he couldn't come with me."

"Oh, well, you know I also had to leave my brother," Ace said, trying to be empathetic. "It was tough, but I was old enough and he wasn't. Sometimes, you gotta do hard things."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I did it the right way. Ever since then I wondered if I made the right choice. It's kept me up nights. It still does. I don't want him to see me again and think I'm a coward. That I'm a liar."

"Why'd you leave?"

Kuina grew angry just thinking about the answer to that question. She clenched her fists so tight they cracked. So much resentment, just for one person. One of the things that kept her going the most was the thought of proving him wrong. She lived to spite him. Part of her still loved him, but many more hated him.

"My father," she said, almost whispering.

"Jakon?" asked Ace.

"No, my real father. Your father is supposed to believe in you, to support you. He did the opposite. He tried to stop me. To protect me, but he was a fool. If I stayed there . . . I can't even imagine it," Kuina said, shaking her head in frustration.

Kuina looked like a mental train wreck. Ace had to say something to her. As far as having a hard early life goes, Ace could definitely relate.

"Listen, so your father wasn't great. I didn't even have a father at all. He's dead, I never got to know him," said Ace. "No mother either. She died giving birth to me."

Kuina already knew that, but to hear Ace say it himself was something else. Kuina hadn't thought about her own mother in years, not that there was much to think about. She had never met her. Yet another thing in common she shared with Ace.

"Mine too," Kuina said softly.

Ace reached forward, tearing the poster off the board and handing it to her.

"Take it," he said. "Use it to remind yourself you'll see him again, and when you do, if he's truly your brother, he'll understand why you did what you did."

Kuina silently took the poster, having no idea what to say in return. Throughout all his faults Ace always seemed to know what to say, a trait Kuina certainly didn't believe she shared. She couldn't even muster up a thank you.

"Come on," Ace said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go before Pops kills us both."

Kuina had completely forgotten about that. It was the whole reason she came here.

"Yeah, yeah you're right. Let's go," Kuina agreed, trying to get back to reality.

One day she would see Zoro again, but that day was not now. She couldn't let worries of the future get in her way, nor should painful memories of the past. She needed to focus on now. She was still young, she still had a life to live, and a promise to keep. She could only hope Zoro would do the same, and when the time came for Zoro and Kuina to meet again, he'd be able to forgive her.


	9. The Traitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A terrible crime occurs on the Moby Dick. Thatch, the 4th division commander, has been murdered by one of his own comrades. Enraged, Ace sets off to pursue him against Whitebeard's wishes, but he will not be alone in this journey.

In a rather short time, Portgas D. Ace had gone from a captive held against his will to serve on the Whitebeard ship, to a celebrated hero and the new 2nd division commander. Ace had gotten the promotion mostly because of his efforts in the fight against Doma's ambush, in which he was responsible for destroying most of the fleet himself. Even though Kuina had defeated Doma in single combat, it was Ace that had turned the tide of battle. Others more greedy or ambitious may have felt they were passed over, but Kuina didn't mind much. She was ambitious alright, but to become the world's greatest swordsman, not to rise through the ranks and become a division commander. She wasn't much of a leader, and she knew that. Ace had the charisma and the spirit, so he was obviously the better choice for a leader. Kuina had no qualms with it, as long as she got the credit for defeating Doma, she was happy. She got to battle one of the New World's most famous swordsman and emerge the victor, and that was all that mattered. That's what she lived for. Not fancy titles and parties to be thrown for her. No, Kuina wasn't jealous in the least. If she never became a division commander at all, it wouldn't make much of a difference to her.

But her time would come soon enough, and it wouldn't be nearly as joyous an occasion. In truth, Kuina would have preferred it had never happened at all.

Kuina and Ace had only grown closer since they shared their moment in the port town days before, and suddenly they were close to inseparable. They would argue and bark at each other constantly, but that was just how they communicated. They were rivals in their own right in terms of pure power, but since Ace wasn't a swordsman, Kuina didn't see him as an obstacle to overcome. If anything they spent much of their time in combat trying to outdo the other just for spite and bragging rights. Ace cared about the rivalry more in fact, and was eager to get a rematch with Kuina after their initial fight ended in a draw months ago. Ace didn't have that swordsman ego like Kuina did. A strong opponent was a strong opponent. It didn't matter if they used swords or a devil fruit ability. He just loved the thrill of the fight.

To Kuina it was different. She loved the challenge as well, but she was interested in fighting swordsman much more than other opponents. Because of that, she was able to see Ace as more of a friend than a rival, although she had her moments. Vista on the other hand, was a different story. He was one of the most renowned swordsman in the world, and defeating him would make Kuina a legend for sure. At the top of her list was Dracule Mihawk of course, but Vista was not far down that list. She desperately wanted a chance to fight him again, but because they were allies it made it very difficult for her, and even if Whitebeard agreed, they couldn't go all out on the ship. Vista too, wanted a rematch against Kuina, for he desired to test the abilities of Jakon's successor, but a good time had not yet come. Kuina would have to be patient, and that was not one of her virtues. It was a frustrating position for Kuina, at least when she was a loner she could challenge whoever she wanted.

So far it had been a calm day for Kuina, or in other words, boring. A seemingly uninhabited island had been discovered, and some of the crew had gone to explore it. They reported in saying they had found something very interesting, but Kuina didn't know what, and at the time she didn't much care. She soon would.

"Ugh, it's not fair," Ace complained, looking out onto the island as the search party was returning. He stood next to his swordswoman comrade. "Exploring is one of the reasons I became a pirate, and now when we discover an island, I have to stay on the ship."

Kuina leaned against the deck wall with her arms crossed, looking in the opposite direction of the island. "You're a division commander now Ace, you have responsibilities," Kuina said back. "Your division wasn't chosen to go. It's as simple as that."

"Well you're not even in a division, you can do whatever you want." Ace said back, turning to her with an irritated look. "So why didn't you go?"

"'Cause I don't care. It's just an empty island to me. I'm here to fight, and not much else. If there's no fight, why should I bother?" Kuina said honestly.

"You're no fun at all. What kind of a pirate doesn't want to explore and adventure? Who knows what could be on that island?" Ace argued.

"Trees, rocks, sand, maybe some fruit," Kuina said dismissively, "Doesn't sound like much of an adventure to me."

"You're a really hard woman to motivate when a fight's not guaranteed," Ace sighed, realizing Kuina was a lost cause. "You really bring me down sometimes Kuina."

Kuina shrugged silently, but realized she was coming off as cold again. She had been trying work on that, but old habits die hard.

"Sorry, I don't mean to, it's just. . . how I am."

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it."

The landing party had returned with their findings, headed by the 4th division commander, Thatch. In his hands he held, by far, the most interesting thing they had discovered on the island. Ace rushed over to Thach, eager to talk to him about what he found. Kuina took her time in walking over to Thatch, although she had to admit, the item Thatch was holding did look interesting. She assumed it had to be a Devil Fruit of course, for why else would he be holding a fruit like it was some sort of treasure? At first glance it looked like a batch of grapes, but larger and strangely formed. To her, the fruit looked ominous. Kuina wasn't very familiar with Devil Fruits, not being a user herself. People generally ate devil fruits in hopes it would give them an invaluable, unique ability, but Kuina made a point to avoid them, and it wasn't because of the tradeoff either, for she hardly needed to swim, considering her abilities. If she used the power of a Devil Fruit to help win her battles, she could hardly call herself a legitimate swordswoman. It was cheating as far as she was concerned, and any swordsman who used a Devil Fruit could never hold the true title of "greatest swordsman." Ace was much more familiar with Devil Fruits than Kuina, for obvious reasons, although this one he didn't recognize.

"Thatch! Is that a Devil Fruit?" Ace asked, even though he was almost positive it had to be.

"Sure is," Thatch replied with a smile.

It was almost impossible not to like Thatch. Always friendly and easy to talk to, people didn't come much kinder than him. Ace was closer to him than Kuina was, but that didn't mean she didn't like him. Thatch was everyone's friend.

"Which fruit is it? What does it do?" Ace asked.

"We don't know yet. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it to be honest," Thatch said.

"Well, you're the one who found it. The rule on the ship is finders keepers," Kuina pointed out. "So you can do whatever you want with it."

As the trio talked, they were ignorant to a certain man standing just off to the side, gazing longingly at Thatch's prize. A devilish grin flashed across his face before he vanished among the rest of the crew.

The next morning Kuina awoke to the sound of a blaring alarm and pure chaos. She jumped out of bed in a frenzy and grabbed her sword, thinking they had to be under attack. She rushed out of her room in only her night clothes, confused when she didn't hear any cannon fire or other sounds of battle. A group of her fellow crewmembers were running in her direction.

"Hey! What the hell's going on?" Kuina asked as they passed her by.

"Thatch has been murdered! We've been betrayed!"

Thatch? Murdered? By who? And why? That's when Kuina remembered. The Devil Fruit. Kuina took off after her comrades, following them to the crime scene.

A crowd was gathered outside Thatch's room when Kuina arrived. She managed to squeeze her way through, the other crewmembers making way for her. Kuina found Thatch face-down in a pool of his own blood, and the Devil Fruit he had found earlier was nowhere to be seen. Kuina felt her entire body shaking as rage overcame her. Thatch deserved an honorable death either naturally or in battle, not murdered in cold blood by one of his own comrades. The 4th division commander of the crew was dead, stabbed in the back by a coward who couldn't face him head on. Whoever did this would pay with their lives, Kuina would make sure of that herself. Standing over the corpse of Thatch was a distraught Ace, tears streaming down his face.

"Teach did this," he said. "Marshall D. Teach."

Ace and Kuina differed in many ways, but when she looked into his hate-filled eyes, she knew they both wanted the same thing.

Mere moments later, Ace was already making preparations to go after Teach, but Whitebeard stood in his way. Now on topside, Ace was arguing his case to what seemed like deaf ears. Ace was infuriated, and for good reason. Whitebeard didn't want anyone going after Teach, despite the treacherous crime he had committed. Kuina was hesitant to speak out against Whitebeard, as she never had before, but she couldn't deny she agreed with Ace wholeheartedly. Still, she had not said anything yet. She didn't want to speak out against Whitebeard or his orders, for he had done so much for her. He had given Kuina a home, friends, and family, but if Kuina was one thing, it was loyal. She was loyal to Whitebeard, but she was also loyal to friends like Thatch, and she couldn't stomach letting his murderer go unpunished. To her, that was a far greater act of disloyalty than being insubordinate. Kuina was conflicted, but her principles would get the better of her soon enough.

"Ace, I know how you feel," said Whitebeard solemnly, having just lost a child. "But you need to let it go. I've got a bad feeling about this one."

"Let it go?!" Are you out of your damn mind? Thatch was your son for years! He was murdered and robbed by one of his own family, and you think we should just let it go? I was Teach's commander, I need to bring him to justice! If I don't, Thatch's spirit will never be at peace!"

"Ace!" Whitebeard shouted now, rising to his feet. "I'm warning you, this is a bad idea. Someone as wanted as you, going out alone? It's far too dangerous. The World Government would love the chance to catch you alone. I can't allow it!"

"But Teach needs to die for this!" Kuina screamed, stepping forward. Ace's words had struck an emotional cord, and she could stay silent no longer. Everyone's eyes were on her now. "I'll go with him. We'll be safer if we're together."

"Kuina . . ." Ace said softly, shocked at first at her support. Then he smiled slightly, giving her a thankful nod.

Mumbles and murmurs spread throughout the crew, as now two people were openly challenging Whitebeard. Arguments and disagreements happened often enough, but to disregard direct orders from Whitebeard wasn't common at all, and coming from Kuina of all people. Not only had she never questioned his orders before, but it was Ace's side she was taking. Their relationship had taken an enormous shift.

"Kuina, are you disobeying me as well?" came Whitebeard's stern, angry bellow.

"I can't allow this! Teach murdered his own comrade in cold blood! Then, he robbed him and fled like a coward!" Kuina lashed, standing firm against her new father. "He took of a sacred oath of loyalty and he broke it! In the most vile, evil of ways! To kill your own sworn brother, it's unthinkable! Unforgivable! And you just want to let him go? Because you have a bad feeling about it?!" Kuina bit her lip, bracing herself for what she was about to say next. "I'm sorry father, but it's a disgrace! It's an insult to his memory!"

"Kuina," said Marco in disbelief. She was accusing Whitebeard as being disloyal to one of his own sons.

Whitebeard scowled, realizing he wouldn't be able to talk either of his children down. He couldn't stop them if he tried. He understood how they felt, and normally he would have sent retaliation out without thinking twice, but something about this situation seemed evil to him. He felt something terrible was about to happen, but then, something terrible had already happened. Kuina was right, together they would be safer. He would just have to hope his feeling was wrong, because stopping these two from trying to avenge their brother was an impossible task. Ultimately, he was proud of them. Their dedication to their comrade was something to behold, but he was still displeased.

"If you're going to go, then go. I won't stop you, but you two better come back safe! If you make me come get you, you'll wished you were killed instead!"

Ace nodded, as did Kuina. Whitebeard would never abandon them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't punish them after getting them back.

With Whitebeard's reluctant permission, the pair began preparing a small vessel. The Moby Dick had a number of smaller ships attached for landing or scouting parties. One of them would work just fine for their purpose, although they'd have to be extremely careful with such a small boat on New World waters. If it was just Kuina, she wouldn't even need the boat, but Ace certainly did.

"Kuina, listen, this means a lot to me. I know you didn't have—."

"I'm doing this for Thatch, not for you," Kuina cut him off as she placed supplies on the boat.

"I know, but you backed me when no one else would. I gotta thank you for that," Ace insisted.

Kuina sighed, "What else was I supposed to do? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let this crime go unpunished . . . but you're welcome."

In a few minutes they'd be set to leave, but then Marco approached the vessel. The normally cheery, laid back man looked emotionally drained and deeply saddened. It was not a statue Kuina had ever seen him in.

"Kuina, I need to speak with you for a second."

"Don't try to talk me out of this Marco," Kuina said firmly, continuing with her preparations. "I have to do this, you know I do."

"That's not it," Marco said.

Kuina now stopped what she was doing, turning to him. "What then?"

"I know this might not be the best time to tell you this, but the order just came down from Whitebeard. With Thatch's death, there's a vacancy for the new 4th division commander. Vista was offered the position, but he didn't want to live his own division, and he nominated you for the position. No one had any objections, so the position is yours."

The words didn't seem to register to Kuina. Had she heard him correctly? It caught her so off guard. She was honored and overwhelmed.

"I don't what to say," Kuina said honestly.

"You don't have to say anything. I wish the circumstances were better, but I figure I should let you know before you take off. Good luck to both of you, and be safe."

Marco then left without another word, leaving the two alone once more. Ace noticed Kuina was just standing in place, looking uncomfortable and plagued with troubling thoughts.

"Hey," he said, patting her shoulder. "Congratulations. You deserve it."

It took Kuina minute to respond.

"Thanks," she said simply, turning around to continue getting the boat ready.

"You'll have a party waiting for you when you get back, I bet," Ace said with a grin.

"Yeah, great, I've got that to look forward to," Kuina replied sarcastically, not too thrilled with that thought.

With all their preparations made, the two waved one last farewell, before lowering their vessel to the water. Given the height of the ship, it was quite a long descent, and Kuina and Ace had nothing to do but look at each other while they waited to hit the water.

"You know I don't know how to sail right?" Kuina asked.

"What?!" Ace asked disbelievingly. "How the hell did you get here?"

"I ran," Kuina said, reminding him of her ability.

"Oh yeah. Great, so I'll have to do all the work," Ace said with a sigh.

"You could teach me. Then I could help."

"Yeah, I guess. A pirate that doesn't know how to sail . . ." Ace repeated, astonished at the absurdity.

When they finally reached the ocean below, Ace severed the ropes, and they were on their way. Now finally on the water, Kuina watched in silence as they gained more and more distance from the Moby Dick. She wasn't sure when she'd ever see it again. She turned to Ace, who was already adjusting the sails. She had absolutely no idea what purpose it served.

"Do we have any leads on Teach?" Kuina asked, guessing the answer was probably no.

"No, no idea, he could have gone anywhere," Ace said as he worked. "But I figure we could check the closest port town and see if anyone's spotted him, then follow the trail from there."

That was a good enough idea, Kuina supposed. She knew a thing or two about tracking people, so she'd be very useful in that regard.

"This could take a long time, you realize that right? He probably won't leave the Grand Line, but he could wind up anywhere. He could keep on going further into the New World, or back through Saobody Archipelago and back to the first half, and everything in-between."

"Yeah, I know. It's a longshot, but we gotta try. Why? You havin' second thoughts?"

Kuina shook her head. "Not a chance."

"Good, because if you turned back now I'd never forgive you," Ace said as he finished. He looked out to sea now, breathing in the fresh air. "You know, if we're lucky, we'll find my brother while we're out here, and your friend."

"I did think about that," Kuina admitted. "But our main objective is finding Teach.

"Yeah, I know. This was my idea."

"When we find Teach, what'll we do? Kill him? Bringing him back to face justice at the Moby Dick would be impossible. Execution on the spot seems to be the only option," Kuina pointed out, only just not thinking about it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ace said, realizing how ridiculous it would be to try to transport Teach for some sort of pirate trial. His punishment would have to come from them and them alone, and it would need to be deadly.

The nature of this mission reminded Kuina of her career as an assassin before she joined Whitebeard. It was not a part of her life she remembered fondly, but Teach needed to die, and either her or Ace would be the one to take his life. At least, that was the plan, and how often do things really go as planned?


	10. Kill Kuina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During their search for Teach, Ace and Kuina stop at a pirate haven in hopes of finding some information. While there, Kuina is attacked by mysterious assailants.

Kuina and Ace had already been to two locations and they found neither a trace of Teach nor did they hear anything regarding his whereabouts. They were disappointed, but not surprised. No one said this task would be an easy one. The first two places were towns technically under the jurisdiction of the World Government, but their next stop was a full blown pirate haven. Settled by pirates, for pirates. Generally, these weren't the honorable or decent type of pirate like Kuina and Ace were either. Most of them were lowlifes, petty thieves and murderers. In other words, a place where scum like Teach would fit in just fine. Kuina had been to plenty of places like this before, it was where she picked up most of her work in her earlier life. She may have been an assassin, but she made sure her targets were only criminals, or sometimes corrupt law enforcement. Never would she agree to kill someone she thought was a virtuous person, and she greatly preferred if the target was at least a decent fighter. Not only did she appreciate the challenge, but she didn't feel bad about killing a scumbag criminal in open combat, whereas slaughtering a helpless, desperate thief certainly would, and that's something she just wouldn't do. Only if she thought the target was truly despicable and evil would she accept a contract on a person that couldn't defend themselves. Someone who she truly believed the world would be much better off without. That only happened one time. It made her feel better about what she was doing, even if she was almost exclusively working for other criminals. She didn't say she was proud of that time in her life.

She hated being in these pirate havens then, and she hated it now. They reeked of filth, both human and material. The law here was that whoever was strongest ruled, and people were killed on the street often and without consequence. She wasn't sure of the name of this one, and it didn't really matter. They all had the same type of uncreative names. Shipwreck Island? Blood Haven? Thieves' Landing? They were all the same. They weren't exactly the most respectful lot either, especially towards women. Not that there weren't women among its denizens, there were, but they too were especially nasty or disgusting to women. Kuina never understood that. The meanest comments were always from women. Kuina didn't much care about her appearance, but she had matured into an attractive woman, whether she liked it or not. It was a fact. Some of locals made constant passes at her, mostly men, but sometimes women, and they were almost always drunk. Most of them seemed to know who she was or she was with, and gave her a wide berth, but the drunk ones didn't care. They never cared. Ace got some comments thrown at him too, but he seemed to know how to handle it, either ignoring them or laughing it off. Kuina was far too impatient and defensive, and she never wanted to subject herself to a place like this again. If they didn't finish their business here soon, there'd be a lot of dead drunkards littering the streets.

The pair came to a large tavern, no doubt full to the brim of shady characters like the rest of that hellhole. They knew Teach was a heavy drinker, so checking all the taverns just seemed like common sense, and they were also the best places to pick up information.

"I know a few people here," Ace said as they approached. "If anyone knows anything, it'll be them."

The door opened in front of them as one of the patrons stepped out, giving Kuina a quick glimpse of the inside. It was unbearably loud and obnoxious and there were women wearing almost no clothes everywhere, much more so than she'd even expect. She looked to the sign of the establishment, reading it over.

Harlot's Haven: Bar and Bordello

It was a brothel. Kuina scowled in disgust.

"You know people here?" she asked, revolted.

"What? It's the place to be around here."

"I'm not going in there," Kuina said, already in an irritated state. "I'll wait out here, tell me if you find anything out."

"What are you serious? It's pouring out here."

"I'd rather get wet," Kuina crossed her arms.

Ace looked at her with a disbelieving expression. "What if I need some backup? What if Teach is in there right now?"

"Pretty sure I'll notice when a fireball blows out the wall. If that happens I'll be more than happy to come in and help you tear that place apart, but I'm not going in there and have a bunch of drunk perverts mistake me for a whore. You don't want to see how I'd react to that," Kuina said back.

"Kuina, you look nothing like that," Ace said, "Hell, they might not even be able to tell you're a woman at all with your hair and the way you dress," Ace reasoned.

"Did you think I was a boy when we first met?" Kuina eyed him.

"I wasn't sure. Honestly. You sure don't act like one."

"And how is a girl supposed to act, exactly?" Kuina asked now, never having been a fan of stereotypes.

"Kuina, I'm not doing this with you," Ace said, avoiding the trap. "If anyone puts hands on you, punch them in the face. It's that easy."

"I'm not going in there," Kuina repeated, standing firm. "Trust me, I'll be waiting right here when you get back."

Ace shook his head, giving up on the matter. "Fine. Whatever. I'll see you in a few minutes," Ace said as he left her out there in the rain. "I hope you catch a cold you stuck-up jerk."

"Don't you dare take too long!" she yelled after him.

And then Kuina was alone. She huffed, taking a look around. Hardly anyone was still on the streets due to the pouring rain. It was mostly just her. Mostly. The combination of the howling wind and the crashing raindrops was loud enough that most people wouldn't hear the rapid footsteps creeping up behind her, but Kuina's senses had been heightened a great deal due to her training. On top of that, she had natural instincts, and she could sense there was trouble coming her way. She turned just in time to see a flash of light followed quickly by a deafening blast of a pistol.

With nothing but pure reflex, Kuina shifted her whole body to the left without even having to think, dodging the bullet with ease. Now standing slightly to the left where she was earlier, she was able to see her assailants clearly, and what she saw surprised her more than a little. Three shady figures, all in kimonos and wielding katanas. Each one wore a large, eastern style hat known as a kasa to protect them from the rain and to hide their faces. They looked like ronin. Masterless samurai. Plenty of ronin had turned to piracy, but Kuina got the feeling this wasn't just a random act of violence or a robbery. Whoever these people were, they were there for her and her only. Bounty hunters? No, Kuina didn't think so. They were assassins. She had seen enough of both to know the difference. Someone had put a hit out on Kuina. They now drew their swords, and Kuina drew hers in response.

"I don't know who you are, or who sent you, but if you leave now, I promise to spare your lives," Kuina warned. "That's the only chance you're going to get!"

Her words fell on deaf ears as the trio charged her all at once, and Kuina was forced to defend herself. Whoever these people were, they weren't the average swordsmen. They were far more skilled. Their strikes were swift and precise, and Kuina found herself struggling to parry all of them. She needed to regain control of the situation and fast. Just as the three assassins were about to gain the upper hand, Kuina vanished from sight. The swordsmen stopped in mid strike in confusion, searching frantically for their target. Kuina reappeared fifty feet from where she was standing, as if she had taken one huge leap backwards. Now she had gained some distance, and she wasn't going to waste this chance. She made a powerful, horizontal strike in the air, causing a particularly powerful Rankyaku shockwave to erupt from the blade. Since the three were standing in a line, the blast threatened to hit all three of them. Caught off guard, two of the swordsman tried to duck underneath the wind blade, while the other tried to block the rapidly advancing force.

He did not fare well.

The Rankyaku wave shattered the man's sword as if were made of glass, and kept right on going, all but slicing the assassin in two. The other two watched silently as their comrade was sent sprawling through the air and then crashing violently to the ground, leaving a long trail of blood before finally coming to a stop. Showing no sympathy or sadness for their ally they turned back to face Kuina, unfazed, only to see she had disappeared again.

They turned to each other, and nodded. They positioned themselves back to back so all directions were covered, thinking it would remove the possibility of a surprise attack from Kuina. They peered through the pouring rain, trying to get some glimpse of Kuina before she struck. The wind was picking up again now, so much so the rain began falling at an angle. The storm was getting worse by the minute. A white flash lit up the sky as lightning struck just nearby, and with the flash came another strike. Kuina's blade.

Kuina came at the assassin from below, slashing upwards, using the heavy rain and bright flash to mask her approach. The killer didn't see her until it was too late. Kuina attacked from an angle, slicing his flesh from waist across to the opposite shoulder. Blood sprayed out of the man's chest, his sword clattering to the ground. His ally whipped around, noticing the attack. Kuina finished off the assailant by driving her sword straight through his chest and out the other side, then kicking the impaled man off her sword and into his friend. The other assassin knocked away his dying comrade unhesitantly, letting him fall to the ground and bleed to death. Kuina searched for a response, but there was none.

"I just killed two of your friends, don't you care even at all?"

"They were not friends. There are no friends. Only those who help to kill. Nothing more," said the remaining assassin, finally speaking.

"You don't care about them at all?" Kuina asked, getting chills. "What about yourself? You can't win this fight, you have to see that by now."

"I am nothing. My life means nothing. There is only death, and one of us must die."

"Who the hell are you?" Kuina asked, getting more unnerved by the second.

"A bringer of death, as are you. For those such as us, there is only one end."

He charged Kuina head on, knowing very well it would mean his end. Alone he stood no chance, but it didn't seem to matter to him. They clashed swords again and again until Kuina eventually gained the upper hand, and slew him in the street. The bleeding man fell to the ground as the last two before him, breathing his last. She had never seen anything like these people. They had no regard for their own life or anyone else's. They were fanatical. Cult-like. Someone wanted Kuina dead, and if they could get people like this, it meant they had some very powerful connections. There was no way these three were the only ones, there was an entire organization after Kuina. But why? She heard the door to the brothel open, turning to see Ace step back outside. He saw Kuina first.

"Hey Kuina, guess what?" he said with a victorious smile, but then he noticed the three bodies lying nearby. "Whoa Kuina, what the hell did you do?" he asked, running out into the rain.

"Me?" Kuina made a sour face, annoyed he assumed she was responsible for the fight. "I was just defending myself. These three men were here to kill me. They were probably following us since we got here, waiting for me to be alone.

"No way," Ace said, astounded all this happened in the small time he was gone. "Are any of them still alive?"

Kuina pointed to the man right next to her with her sword, still soaked with the man's blood. "That one is, for now. He won't be for much longer."

"Hey," Ace turned to the man, squatting down next to him. "Who put you up to this asshole? Big Mom? Kaido?" he demanded, thinking of all their rivals who might want to weaken them.

They man looked to Ace, just barely alive.

"Death," he answered weakly, and then fell limp, dying before Ace.

"Death?" Ace repeated, confused. "What a weirdo."

"They're maniacs," Kuina informed him. "My guess is there's a lot more where they came from too, and they're after me."

"They could be after both of us," Ace said. "Maybe they figured they could take us one at a time instead of both at once."

"Maybe," Kuina said back, although she had her doubts. "We should expect more of this. Now that we're separated from the rest of the crew we're exposed. We're prime targets for our enemies."

"I'm not going back," Ace made clear.

"I'm not saying we should, just that we need to be on our guard. These guys got quite the jump on me. We can't let that happen again."

"Yeah, you're right," Ace agreed, looking to the dead man. "Damn, another thing to worry about. Well, the news isn't all bad," he said, turning back to Kuina. "We got a lucky break. Teach was here a few days ago, and he was stupid enough to mention where he was headed."

"Wait really?" Kuina said, astounded. "Where?"

"Paradise."

"He's going back there? What for? All the action that matters is here, in the New World," Kuina said. "All the strongest fighters are here."

"Maybe that's the reason. Maybe he thinks it'll be easy pickings. Attacking rookie pirates and weak countries."

"The coward," Kuina scowled, such a thought not even occurring to her. It did sound like something scum like Teach would do though.

Ace noticed Kuina didn't look excited, even though they had invaluable news on Teach's whereabouts. In fact, she looked annoyed.

"What's wrong with you? This is good news."

Kuina looked at him bitterly, "I'm happy that we found a lead on Teach, and I'm definitely going with you to find that bastard, but I don't want to go back to Paradise. There are much fewer strong enemies there, especially for people like us. No one will stand a chance, it'll be boring. Plus, we'll draw a lot of attention to ourselves. People will wonder what the hell we're doing there."

"Then we'll keep a low profile," Ace said naively.

Kuina eyed him, "We're two of the most wanted pirates in the world, we're both wearing Whitebeard's symbol on our back, and I don't plan on taking off my coat. Hiding is for cowards."

"All we have to do is not cause too much trouble," Ace said confidently.

"You? Not cause trouble?"

"Hey, look who's talking," Ace shot back. "You think going to Paradise will be boring, but there's something you're not seeing Kuina."

"And what would that be?" Kuina asked, crossing her arms.

"Paradise is where all the new pirates are, like my brother, and your friend. Zoro."

Kuina's eyes went wide. She hadn't thought of that at all.

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Ace continued, knowing he had sparked her interest. "Maybe we'll–."

Before Ace could finish, Kuina brushed by him, walking back towards their boat at the port.

"Come on, let's get going," she said eagerly, now totally motivated.

Ace smiled at her. "Heh, here we go," he said as he took off after her.

The pair now had a new problem ahead of them, to which neither of them knew the solution. They needed to find a way back to Paradise. Normally, there was no reason for pirates to want to go backwards, so there was no well-known way. They would have to get creative.


	11. On the Back of a Hurricane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuina and Ace are stumped on how to get back to Paradise, but they're about to get a helping hand from the unpredictable weather of the Grand Line.

Kuina stood at the edge of their small vessel, looking out towards the cliffs of the Red Line, which were finally visible. Unfortunately, they still had not come up with a way to cross the heavily guarded stretch of land. At the moment, they were just floating aimlessly in the ocean, and both were going more and more frustrated.

"How do you suppose Teach made it across?" Kuina asked as Ace came up behind her.

"No idea," replied Ace. "But we gotta think of something. I'm not turning back now. We'll go over the damn thing if we have to."

"That would be insane. Trying to cross the Red Line like that would set off alarms all over the Grand Line. The admirals themselves would come after us" Kuina said.

"You're not afraid, are you?" Ace teased her.

"Of course not," Kuina said quickly, giving him a frown. "But I know I'm not immortal. I'm not delusional. Trying to do that by ourselves would be akin to committing suicide. We can't wage a war by ourselves Ace."

"And what if there's no other choice?" Ace countered.

"There has to be! People have made it out of the New World before. We just have to think creatively. Fishman Island is under Whitebeard's protection right? Is there some way we can get in contact with them? Get them to send up an escort or something?" Kuina proposed.

"We can't do that from here, we'd have to go back to the Moby Dick, and I don't want to waste that kinda time. I guess that's always an option though," Ace said with reluctance. "I don't know, there's got to be a quicker way."

The words had barely left Ace's mouth when something blocked out the sun, and the sky became dark. They both looked up to see ominous looking clouds all around them, and the wind was picking up to dangerous speeds. Just a moment ago the skies had been clear, but the Grand Line, and the New World especially, was infamous for its sudden, violent storms that would come out of nowhere. The next minute it was pouring rain, and Ace and Kuina's ship was being tossed around helplessly in one of the worst typhoons either of them had ever seen. The sky was black, like the sun had all but been extinguished. For Kuina, the danger was minimal, as she didn't even need the boat at all. Ace on the other hand couldn't swim, and he knew he was taking this risk when he came out here. If their boat turned over, he'd be in some serious trouble.

"Kuina!" Ace shouted over the roaring winds. "We gotta get out of this storm!"

"And how do you propose we outrun a hurricane with a sailboat?!"

"It's not a hurricane! Hurricanes are much larger!"

"I don't care what it's called!" Kuina shouted back, incredulous he could be concerned with semantics at this time. "What the hell does it matter?!"

"We can't outrun a hurricane, but we can outrun this!" Ace screamed, and then he used his Devil Fruit abilities to create a burst of fire out the back of the ship, propelling them forward like a shot from a gun. Before Kuina could react, they were travelling at the speed of a bullet through a wild typhoon.

"ACE! Are you insane?!" Kuina screamed as loud as she could, but it was no use. She couldn't even hear herself they were going so fast now.

Ahead of them the sea began to rise, forming what they knew as a tsunami. Kuina and Ace looked on in horror as a one hundred foot wall of water descended upon them, and they were headed straight for it. They were going way too fast to try to avoid it. They would have to go straight through it. Kuina had one chance, no time to stop and think it through.

She raised her sword, using all of her strength and energy in one monumental swing. Normally she would never put this amount of power behind on attack, because in combat it would be an all or nothing shot, but there was no choice here. The most powerful shockwave Kuina ever created shot out from her blade, so powerful a sonic boom erupted from the blast as she had broken the sound barrier. Kuina's attack and the immense wave collided with each other in an epic clash, and the attack won. Kuina cut straight through the tsunami, parting the sea as they sped through the middle of the wave.

"YEAH!" Ace screamed in victory as they rode on the side of water wall, having far too much fun.

Kuina couldn't help but smile as she barely heard his yell of excitement. What they were doing was incredibly stupid, but undeniably exhilarating. She had just decimated a tsunami that could have wiped out a city with one swing, so she had to admit, she was feeling pretty invincible herself.

But the storm wasn't done with them yet.

As they emerged from what was left of the monstrous wave, another obstacle had entered their sight. The typhoon had spawned a raging twister, one of the largest imaginable, and there was no cutting through this. Kuina had used up almost all of her energy with that last attack, and the wind was pulling them in. The colossal waterspout swept them up in seconds, lifting them high into the sky, but Ace was still propelling their boat as if rockets were attached to it. The two held on for their lives as they circled around the vortex, climbing higher and higher until they had reached the clouds.

Kuina had gone through some crazy stunts, but none even came close to matching this. Suddenly they were thousands of feet in the air, spinning around in an infinite loop as the storm raged on below, the twister carrying them who knew where. Above the clouds now, Kuina could see nothing but blurs of white and black. Now in the storm cloud, the deafening crack of thunder engulfed them from all sides. Trapped in the spinning vortex for who knows how long, the pair lost track of time entirely. Kuina once heard of a city in the clouds. She had never bought into the idea, but if there was ever a way to reach it, this would be it. All they could hope for now was for the storm to die before they did. They were trapped in the storm. Wherever it went, they went.

Then, just as their minds were starting to numb, they began to descend. Slowly at first, but then quickly. Soon they were below the clouds once more, circling swiftly down as the storm dissipated around them. Kuina couldn't believe they were still alive, but they still had to survive the impact of crashing back into the ocean. The vessel glided rather gently along the dying winds of the vortex before it vanished completely, and the ship began to freefall to the sea. It was a short drop and a sudden stop. Luckily for them they weren't too high.

Ace and Kuina lied on the tiny vessel, panting with exhaustion as the sky cleared around them. The sun was shining and suddenly it was a beautiful day once more. They had made it, and in one piece by some miracle. She managed to get up to her feet, the ship still rocking side to side from the impact of hitting the water. She looked out into the sea, at first seeing nothing around, but then something caught the corner of her eye. She turned to face it, and was struck dumbfounded by the sight.

"That was incredible!" Ace yelled as he sprang to his feet. "We rode a twister across the sky! And the way you cut that huge wave in half?! No one is gonna believe this!" Ace was ecstatic, for a moment he had totally forgotten why they were out here in the first place. They still hadn't figured out a way to cross the Red Line, but then again, they no longer needed to.

"Ace, is that what I think it is?" Kuina asked, pointing out to sea.

"Huh?" Ace turned, looking out to see where Kuina was pointing. Once he realized what he was looking at, he too couldn't believe his eyes. "No way. . ."

It was an island they had seen before. A massive forest floating in the middle of the ocean, with trees so large they made up little, smaller islands. Ironically home to both a pirate haven and the Marine headquarters, it also operated as hot tourist spot and a popular slave trading post for World Nobles.

Sabaody Archipelago. The pair would have to come here inevitably, but they never thought they'd get here this soon. It quickly occurred to them that the storm had passed right over the Red Line, carrying them with it. They had bypassed Fishman Island altogether and wound up in Paradise by pure chance.

"I. . . don't believe it," Kuina barely got out.

It was nothing short of a miracle. The unpredictable weather of the Grand Line had done them a huge favor. Not only had they made it back to Paradise, but they had made great time. If they were lucky, they may have even got there ahead of Teach.

"Ha!" Ace said triumphantly. "I knew it would all work out!"

"What? You had no way of knowing that would happen!" Kuina said back, turning to him quickly. "The chances of that happening were a million to one! It should have been impossible!"

"Yeah, but we're here aren't we?"

Kuina couldn't argue with that.

"Yeah, yeah we are here, but don't try to act like you saw this coming!"

"Whatever," Ace shrugged, leaving Kuina so he could turn the ship in the direction of the island. "I didn't think I'd see this place again," Ace admitted as they got closer and closer.

"Me neither," Kuina agreed. Until now, neither one of them had imagined a reason why they'd want to leave the New World.

"Hey Kuina," Ace suddenly said, something popping into his mind. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How did you get to the New World the first time? I know you don't need a ship to cross the ocean, but you must have had to use Fishman Island to the get to the New World, right? And you need a ship to get there."

"Yeah, you do. I hitched a ride," Kuina said with an odd tone, as if she didn't want to discuss this.

Ace sensed this, but pressed anyway. "With who?"

Kuina sighed, not answering at first.

"Kuina?"

"Doflamingo," Kuina finally said.

"What?" Ace asked again, thinking he hadn't heard right.

"Donquixote Doflamingo," she said again, more clearly.

"Why the hell would you ask him? Better yet, why the hell would he take you?" Ace asked incredulously, knowing Doflamingo's downright sinister reputation.

"I didn't ask him, he offered. You know what I used to do, don't you? I did some work for Doflamingo in the past. He runs a lot of underworld rings. After proving reliable, he grew quite fond of me, and wanted to keep me around for a bit. I had been with Doflamingo before we even go to Sabaody Archipelago. He treated me pretty well, and even offered me a position. I declined, because I still had my master's mission to carry out. He said there'd always be a place for me there though, if I ever changed my mind."

"No way," Ace said, astounded. "So you know Doflamingo? Well?"

"Yes."

"What's he like? I've never actually met the guy. Heard some crazy stories though."

"They're all true," Kuina said, clearly uncomfortable. "Every one. Unnerving, psychotic, ambitious, and unbelievably charismatic. He can talk you into anything, no matter how crazy it seems at the time. If he likes you, he's pretty friendly, so I never had much of a problem with him, but I've seen what he does to people that he doesn't. Piracy is full of moral gray areas, but he's something else. He's not evil, he's . . . amoral."

"I never figured you'd get involved with someone like that," Ace said, still not sure he believed it.

"Me neither, but once he starts talking to you, he pulls you in. He makes you think things, makes you question what you know. He can make his ideas sound like the right thing, no matter how monstrous they actually are. I did some things while I was with him, things I'm not sure how I feel about now. When I left him, I was afraid to go back. I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave. Not because of what he'd do to me, but because I would never want to leave. That kind of power he had over people, the power he had over me, it scared me," Kuina admitted, shuddering a bit.

"Why do you think he liked you so much?"

"He said he was a big fan of my master's work. He said he always looked up to him."

Ace shuddered himself, looking away. "That's creepy."

"Yeah," Kuina nodded, still looking ahead. "Yeah it is."

Ace decided the subject needed to be changed.

"You think we'll find Teach there?" he asked.

"Maybe, a lot of pirates go to this place, but we made it here so quick he might have not even gotten here yet. If that's the case, we'll have to wait for him."

"Let's hope we won't have to," Ace said.

Ace steered the tiny vessel into port, obviously choosing the lawless pirate zone over anything else. As soon as she was within reach, Kuina eagerly stepped off from the boat onto the dock, where a group of pirates were loitering around. They took notice to the tiny ship almost immediately. Ace tied up the boat while the pirates approached from behind. Kuina saw them coming, getting the feeling they were about to be harassed by some ignorant fools.

"Missy," said one with an amused, "Is that dinky little thing really your ship? How did you two even make it this far with that sad excuse for a vessel?"

"Shoo fly, go away," Kuina said dismissively, turning away.

The pirate and his friends grimaced, smart enough to know they were being disrespected at least.

"The hell did you just call me?"

"A fly," Kuina repeated. "An insignificant, weak, annoying little nothing. That's what I called you," she said, still not looking back at him.

"Kuina . . ." Ace said shaking his head, as she was already causing trouble.

"You dumb bitch, do you know what crew I'm in? Just who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

"A fly. Are you deaf, or just stupid?"

"That's it! You're dead!" the man bellowed, drawing his cutlass and quickly bringing it down on Kuina.

One second Kuina was standing with her hands at her sides, looking away. The next her sword was suddenly drawn and held in the air with one hand, easily holding off the pirate's weak attack.

"What?!" the pirate gaped in disbelief, his heart sinking when he realized he had attacked the wrong person.

"A little fly like you isn't even worth staining the edge of my blade, so why don't you just buzz off?" Kuina then used her other hand to thrust into the man's chest multiple times with two of her fingers, the basic form of Shigan.

Kuina's fingers pierced through the man like bullets. The pirate agonizingly coughed up blood, dropping his sword to the wooden deck. Kuina then spun around, delivering a powerful kick into his chest, blowing him clear off the dock and crashing straight through a building nearby. His friends looked on in shock and awe, turning back to Kuina with horror painted on their faces.

"I am Kuina the Raindodger, and this is Fist Fist Ace. We're both of the Whitebeard Pirates," Kuina announced.

"Oh crap. . ." said one of the pirates, now finally recognizing the both of them.

"We're looking for a man named Marshall D. Teach. Have either of you heard of him?" asked Kuina.

"No, no ma'am!" they both said at once, shaking.

"Then get out of here," Kuina demanded, turning away.

The two wasted no time in retreating with their tails between their legs, determined not to meet the same fate as their foolish friend.

"So much for keeping a low profile," said Ace, jumping on the deck. "Was that really necessary?"

"I will not treated like garbage by a couple of common thugs, and I'm not interested in hiding. I told you this before," Kuina said, starting to walk towards the town.

Ace followed her, hoping to be able to keep her temper under control. Kuina, despite all precision and grace, was really quite choleric. As strong as the two were, they would both have to watch their backs. Sabaody Archipelago can be a dangerous place to any visitor, no matter how strong you think you are, especially when you have as many enemies as the Whitebeard Pirates.


	12. A Chance Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the Straw Hats visit Loguetown, Zoro runs into two familiar faces. One, Tashigi, wasn't all too surprising to see, and someone he would have rather avoided. The other was a man he had met only once, yet who was someone who could give him all the answers he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listening to this song really got me into the mood for writing this chapter, and some of the events were inspired from the lyrics. I love associating stories with songs and this song sets a good tone for the chapter, but if you don't agree or don't like it it's easy to just ignore them entirely. Hopefully you can appreciate it like me though.

_Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand_  
_I've seen your face before my friend, but I don't know if you know who I am_  
_Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes_  
_So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been_  
_It's all been a pack of lies!_

_And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord_  
_Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord_

 

  **Phil Collins-In the Air Tonight**

* * *

A late night training session for the young Zoro was underway as he continued to punish his own body in hopes to build up his endurance, so he could finally best his rival Kuina in a duel. There was no time to sleep, only to train. Zoro always had a one track mind, especially when he was a child, and he wouldn't stop until he collapsed from exhaustion. He was on his way to a secluded spot in the middle of the woods, where he was positive he wouldn't be disturbed. Little did he know at the time, that he wasn't alone in those woods that night.

As he walked along the woods, he couldn't help but hear what was definitely the clashing of swords, over and over again. He had heard the sound far too many times to make that mistake. He followed the sounds until he came upon a strange sight, peeking out from his hidden spot in the trees into a large clearing. It seemed he wasn't the only one who thought these woods would be good for training. He saw Kuina practicing with a strange man, a man Zoro had never seen before in his life. They were using real swords, not practice katanas like they were supposed to, for they were still deemed too young to be using real blades, although they had broken that rule to have their 2000th duel only a few nights before. In fact, Kuina wasn't using a katana at all. She was using what looked like a curved saber, as was the unknown man she was practicing with. Who was that guy? Why was Kuina not using the blade of the samurai, the weapon she had been taught to use all her life? And why was she practicing all the way out here, when she had always used the dojo? None of it made sense.

"Your footing is still off," the man said, easily pushing the frustrated Kuina off balance. "Each step, each movement has to be very precise to master this form. It requires every ounce of your concentration. Try again. Dodge my attack," he said, preparing to strike again.

Kuina braced herself, determined as ever not to be bested. As the training session went on, Zoro got a good look at the mysterious figure training with Kuina, and became obvious he wasn't practicing with her at all, he was teaching her. The aged man moved with grace and precision Zoro had never seen from a swordsman. His footwork flowed like a rushing river, moving with the wind as if somehow gliding through the air, and all along Kuina was attempting to emulate him. Zoro couldn't make any sense out of this, and patience wasn't exactly his strong suit. He needed answers now.

"Hey!" he yelled from his hiding spot in the trees, coming out into clear view.

Kuina froze at the sight of her friend, turning pale immediately as Jakon turned to face the disturbance. It was here Zoro would got a very good look at the man's face. Details he would never forget. The shape, the color of his eyes, an unmistakable scar stretching from his eye across his mouth, but most of all the way the man looked at him, like he could see right through Zoro as if he were transparent.

"Zoro , oh no . . ." Kuina said weakly, knowing she was in trouble. No one was supposed to know they were training out here.

"Kuina, who the heck is this?" Zoro asked, coming closer. "What are you doing out here?"

Before Kuina could respond, the man took matters into his own hands. He vanished before Zoro's eyes like a phantom, stopping the stunned boy in his tracks. The next second he felt a rush of cold air against his neck. Then darkness.

A look of horror flashed across Kuina's face as her new master struck Zoro in the neck from behind, sending him sprawling limply to the ground. He fell to the earth like a ragdoll, so motionless Kuina feared he was dead.

"Zoro!" Kuina cried, distraught. "What the hell did you do Jakon?!" she demanded, outraged by her master's actions.

"What? He saw us. Relax, he'll be fine. Hopefully when he wakes up he'll think this was just a dream, but this place is no longer safe," Jakon said, walking away from the fallen child. "If he can find us, so can anyone. This is starting to get very dangerous Kuina. Soon I'll be forced to leave this place. Do you remember what we talked about? Have you given it any thought?" Jakon asked, stopping next to Kuina so he was facing the opposite direction to her.

Kuina looked down on her fallen friend, knowing exactly what he was like. Knowing if she simply left, he would come after her. That just couldn't happen, but she wasn't sure if he'd ever forgive her if she went along with Jakon's plan. Not to mention her father already knew of Jakon's presence. If Kuina simply left he'd assume it was with Jakon, and then he'd undoubtedly tell the authorities, and a massive manhunt for Jakon would ensue. Kuina didn't just need to disappear, she needed to die. Otherwise, she was doomed to the fate of being surpassed and left behind. She'd rather die for real than face a fate as cruel as that.

"Yes," Kuina finally said with a nod. "I'll do it."

Jakon reached into his pocket, handing Kuina a small vial. Kuina took it, already knowing what it was and what it will do. Within a few hours of consuming it she'd fall into a death-like state, with a heartbeat too weak to sense normally. It would last a few days, long enough for her funeral and to be put in the ground. Then she'd have to trust Jakon to dig her up during the night before she suffocated to death. If that wasn't frightening enough, Jakon told her there was a small chance she would never come out of her coma, which would effectively mean her actual death. It was a chance she was willing to take.

Kuina raised the vial, looking at the strangely colored liquid in the moonlight.

"Make sure you take all of it, and be in a place where your body will be found quickly. Do not drop it. I probably won't be able to make more in time."

"Won't they wonder what happened? It's not very often young girls just drop dead for no reason," Kuina pointed out.

"It won't matter. They might think it's foul play, but you'll be dead all the same. As long as they bury you," he looked to the child on the ground he had knocked out.

"That boy, he was the one you talked about? Your rival?"

"Yes," Kuina answered solemnly.

Jakon could see the pain in Kuina's face at making this decision, the regret she was about to feel. It was a feeling he knew all too well.

"Try not to think too much about it. Remember, this is for you. You should leave quickly, before he wakes up."

And then he was gone, vanishing into thin air with hardly a sound. Kuina looked to the place her master once stood, still amazed every time she saw it, hoping one day she'd be able to do it herself. Then she turned and ran away from the scene, leaving Zoro alone in the open field, desperately hoping he would believe the events of that night were just an odd dream.

Present Day. . .

Up until Zoro and Koshiro had gotten that unpleasant visit from Laskey and they learned of Kuina's deception, Zoro had indeed assumed that night was nothing but a dream. After that, however, Zoro couldn't be sure of anything. He soon learned of Jakon's appearance, and to say he was disturbed would not be saying enough. It was, without a doubt, the man he saw with Kuina that night. He still didn't know what caused him to lose consciousness, but he now knew without a doubt that he had not been dreaming. It had all been real.

Months after the discovery, Zoro had taken to the sea and set out into the unknown world. This had always been his intention, but up until recently it had been to pursue his dream and keep his promise to Kuina, but now his primary motive had changed. He needed to find Kuina. He needed to see her, but more than anything he needed to know why she did what she did. He needed closure. By know she had been gone for much longer than he ever knew her, yet she was all he could think about. A girl who had bested him 2001 times in battle had gotten the better of him again. She sure had him fooled. All this time he thought she was dead she was actually getting stronger, being trained for who knows how long by one of the greatest swordsmen in history. It was almost like she had cheated, in fact, Zoro couldn't help but see it that way. She had gotten a ten year old start on him, being taught by an absolute master, while he was wasting time at the village trying to train himself. He felt snubbed, and he honestly wasn't sure how to view his old rival. Were they still friends? Or had she forgotten about him to pursue her own goals. He wasn't sure, and he had to know. He needed to know if their promise still meant something to her, if it still mattered. He still wanted to get stronger, obviously, but finding Kuina had become priority number one.

Now a member of the quickly-growing-infamous Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro and his crew were on the last stop before they headed into the Grand Line. Loguetown. The hometown of Gold Roger, and the Place of his execution more than two decades ago. While there, he had spotted Tashigi, the same Marine girl who had been the bearer of the life changing news that brought him here in the first place. It looked like she had been reassigned, but he had avoided making contact. He was a pirate now after all, and for all he knew she would attempt to arrest him on the spot. He did his best to stay out of her sight while he went to visit the local sword shop. He needed two katanas to replace the ones destroyed by Mihawk in their brief duel, one that had nearly gotten Zoro killed. He didn't have much money, so any cheap blade would have to do until he got more. As luck would have it, his old rival's look-alike just happened to show up to retrieve her sharpened sword from the shop the same time as Zoro, but thankfully she didn't seem to know he was a pirate, although she did recognize him from months ago. Tashigi, however, wouldn't be the only unexpected visitor that day.

After a great deal of excitement, which included Zoro testing out a cursed sword and risking chopping off his own arm, the sword shop owner gifted Zoro a high quality sword for free, an heirloom of his own family, as a reward for Zoro's total fearlessness. Things seemed to be going Zoro's way, but acquiring those rare swords would be far overshadowed for what was about to happen next.

Zoro and Tashigi were both about to take their leave, when the door opened, and another potential customer stepped inside. Zoro was too busy looking over his prizes, so only Tashigi and the shop owner got a look at the man as he entered. Tashigi's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. What were the chances of running into two people she knew from someplace else at the same time? Although, she didn't even know this man's name.

"Hey, it's you!" she said to the man, who looked instantly annoyed to be recognized.

Tashigi recognized him as the bounty hunter who gave her the information on the Raindodger, many months ago now. That was quite a distance from Loguetown, and it was strange to see him here, for he never claimed to be a swordsman. Stranger still, was that she knew for a fact he never stopped by to claim the reward for his information, which meant he had ended up giving it out for free. She thought it extremely odd, but never thought she would see the man again. Maybe now she could get some answers.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I think you may have me mistaken for someone else. I don't think I know you," the man said, trying to escape this situation.

Tashigi frowned. She was positive this was the man. Either he had a terrible memory, or he was lying. But why?

"Yes you do. You're that bounty hunter. I'm the Marine you gave information on the Raindodger to. Remember? You never collected your money for that, I've been wanting to know why."

As soon as Zoro heard the title "Raindodger," he perked up. That was Kuina's nickname. His curiosity immediately captured, he spun around to face the bounty hunter. He didn't expect the man to be someone he had seen before. A man who, up until a few months ago, Zoro thought existed only in his dreams. Zoro recognized him immediately. The scar. The eyes. That look. It was him.

Zoro froze. He couldn't speak. He just stood there, wide-eyed and petrified.

Meanwhile, the bounty hunter was still being questioned by Tashigi, who was both curious and suspicious of the man. For a man who claimed to be a bounty hunter passing up a deserved reward was absurd, and Tashigi had previously began to wonder if he was not who he said he was.

She couldn't have been more right.

"I know you," Zoro suddenly said, advancing on the man.

The "bounty hunter" looked to Zoro now. Two people who recognized him? What bad luck, but he didn't even recognize this one himself. He had lied to Tashigi, but he genuinely had no idea who Zoro was. He had just come in here to look at some swords and maybe start a conversation with the owner, but he had ended up cornering himself.

"We've never met," the man said to Zoro, quite confident this time he was telling the truth.

"Yes we have, but I guess you wouldn't know who I am," said Zoro, his heart pounding like crazy. "I've wanted to know who the hell you were my whole life, ever since I saw you that night. I always thought something was wrong, that it couldn't have been a dream."

The man looked absolutely dumbfounded at what Zoro was saying, as did Tashigi and the shop owner. Zoro sounded insane.

"Kid, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I've got no patience for crazies," the bounty hunter said, brushing him off and turning away.

"You were there that night. With Kuina."

The man's expression changed in an instant upon hearing that name. He snapped to Zoro with a wide-eyed, disbelieving expression. He now remembered exactly who Zoro was, and realized he was now totally, and absolutely screwed.

"You're Jakon Romanov," Zoro said with confidence.

Tashigi looked as if her world had had been rocked. She whipped around to face the accused man. It was insane, but it seemed to make sense. She had spoken to Jakon Romanov months ago and didn't even know about it? She felt like a fool. Jakon had spent his whole life fooling people for the last twenty or so years, and it had finally caught up with him.

"Well shit," the man revealed said, shaking his head. "I guess the jig's up then. What the hell were the odds of running into you of all people?" he asked Zoro directly, dropping the act entirely.

"Where is she?" Zoro asked, advancing on him.

"No idea. I haven't seen her for about a year," Jakon said

Zoro took hold of Jakon from his jacket, lifting him up and forcibly pinning him against the wall.

"Where is she?!" he asked again.

"You know, I don't think Kuina would ever forgive me if I killed you, but I'd still advise you to let me go," Jakon said calmly, not intimidated at all.

"Do you have any idea, what you did to me? You asshole?! Huh?!" Zoro demanded, very visible tears in his eyes.

Jakon looked back at Zoro with a solemn expression, and then sighed.

"Yes," he said truthfully.

"Then why?! Why did she do it?!"

"Because of you, you idiot," Jakon said. "Everything she's ever done has been for you, even when it was for her, but she needed to get away from you. More importantly, she needed to get away from her sad excuse for a father," Jakon said bluntly.

"You son of a bitch!" Zoro slammed him against the wall again. "The man is like a father to me!"

"If only he was like a father to his own daughter," Jakon said unapologetically.

Jakon then lifted his right hand and thrusted into Zoro's stomach, knocking him away with a strange force. Zoro skidded back across the room on his feet, before collapsing to his knees, gasping for air.

"She always talked about you, you know. She never wanted to leave, but she had to. She never forgave herself for it, and she never got over it. She has more guilt in her heart than you could ever imagine. I hope you'll think about that when you finally see her again," Jakon said, fixing his jacket that Zoro had almost torn off of him.

"Agh! You. . . bastard," Zoro got out, still on his knees.

Tashigi turned to Jakon now, a fiery look in her eye.

"That story you told me, the one you used to describe the Raindodger, how she cut your bullet in half, walking on water, it was all a lie?"

"Yes," Jakon answered simply. "But it could have been true, and that's all that mattered. She really can do those things. I should know, I taught her. I wanted people to know who she was. I wanted them to know her like they knew me."

Tashigi drew her katana, pointing it right at the pirate.

"Jakon Romanov, you are under arrest for the crimes of piracy, murder, destruction of government property, and countless other crimes."

Jakon looked at her like she was crazy, unsure whether to be impressed by her dedication or amused.

"Are you serious lady? Do you honestly think that's going to work?"

"It is my duty to bring you in! No matter the risk to my own life!"

Jakon smirked, "You know, the one thing I told you that was true, was that you really do look just like her, but up until now, I thought you couldn't have been more different. Now I realize, you're more like her than I thought."

"I will not be compared to a pirate!" Tashigi said angrily.

Jakon frowned now. "You see, there's that Marine attitude I hate so much. It's a lot like the samurai's, actually. You both think you're so much better than everyone else. I was never able to completely hammer that out of Kuina, she's still an arrogant little punk. And so are you."

Then Jakon advanced on Tashigi with far more speed than she could register, and all she could hear was sound of his sword being drawn. She braced herself as best as she could, preparing herself for the strike she knew was coming. It came hard and fast, nearly knocking her sword right from her grasp, but she had managed to hold off the Phantom's attack, even if it was nowhere near his full strength. It was more of a test to see how much she could handle. Jakon smirked a bit.

"Impressive, most couldn't stop a strike like that. You've got good form." Jakon noted, backing off a bit.

"Do not toy with me, pirate," Tashigi warned him.

"I'm not. Just trying to enjoy myself a bit."

Tashigi didn't wait for another of his attacks, deciding instead to go on the offensive. Jakon easily parried every one of her strikes, but never tried to counter. Tashigi moved with discipline and grace, and unwavering ferocity. In terms of personality, Tashigi couldn't be more different from Jakon's protege Kuina, but during that fight he was dumbstruck how much she reminded him of his first duel with Kuina ten years earlier. She was the spitting image of his student in more ways than one. Eventually Jakon stopped her flurry of brows with a swift kick to the chest, sending her stumbling back.

"You know what you're doing, I'll give you that," Jakon stated, smiling. "You show a lot of potential. If I were still looking for a successor, I would have considered you."

"I would never accept training from a pirate!"

"Yeah, there's that too. That pride of yours. You know in some ways, you're even worse than she is."

Tashigi knew exactly who he was talking about, and she was sick of tired of being compared and contrasted to her evil twin. She wished she could find her doppelganger herself, just so she could give her a piece of her mind for putting her though all this trouble.

"Enough about the Raindodger!" Tashigi yelled as she came at Jakon again.

This time Jakon did not go so easy, sidestepping her swing and using his superior reach to deliver a nasty a cut across Tashigi's back. She winced in pain, falling to her knees.

"You see, that was sloppy," Jakon noted. "You got a lot of heart kid, but moves like that are a quick way to get yourself killed."

Tashigi didn't answer, still on the ground, panting, as blood streamed from her wound onto the floor.

"As skilled as you are, your problem is the same as Kuina's was. Your style and weapon rely too much on strength and endurance, and as a woman you will never be able to measure up to the strongest men. If you stick with this style, you'll be good, but you'll never excel," Jakon said, standing over vanquished Tashigi.

"What the hell would you know about being a swordswoman?" Tashigi demanded, struggling to get up.

"To be a woman? Nothing. To lack strength? Everything. I know how cruel nature can be."

"I'm not your student, and you're not my master! So quit it!" Tashigi screamed, managing to rise to her feet.

Jakon flinched, remembering Kuina had said the same exact thing to him when they first met. "Alright, now this is just getting eerie," Jakon said, deciding enough was enough. It was time to end this.

"Hey!" came Zoro's voice, who had gotten back to his feet as well. "I'm not done with you," he said, placing his third sword in his mouth to prepare for battle.

Seeing the sight couldn't help but make Jakon laugh. "You know, Kuina told me about this custom style of yours, but to see it myself. . ." Jakon snickered to himself, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"That's right, laugh it up old man."

And then Zoro came at Jakon with everything he had.

"He's fast!" Jakon thought, caught off guard by Zoro's quickness.

He managed to dodge despite being caught sleeping, now having to deal with dodging all of Zoro's attacks, which were much more numerous and powerful than those of Tashigi. Zoro couldn't believe the unnatural movements Jakon was making, bending his bodies in ways that shouldn't have been possible to dodge every one of his blows.

"What the hell are you?!" Zoro demanded, pushing himself even harder.

Tashigi had managed to recover, at least enough to start fighting again, and she charged into Zoro's aid. Still, to someone of Jakon's level it would only be slightly more of a challenge, but the longer this went on the more chances they'd get to possibly get a lucky shot in, and Jakon knew as well as anyone it only takes one clumsy mistake. This had gone on long enough. Still, he wanted to avoid killing either of them.

Jakon fought off both Zoro and Tashigi at the same time, delivering a quick slash to Zoro's leg, causing him to wince and cease movement for just a second, and that was all Jakon needed. He spun around, kicking Zoro hard in the face and sending him sprawling, grinding against the ground and slamming into the counter head first. Zoro let out a grunt before falling completely still. Jakon really hoped he hadn't just broken the boy's neck, for he felt he would actually lose sleep for accidentally depriving the world of that much talent in such a way, not to mention Kuina would be infuriated with him.

"You don't seem like an evil man, so why did you have to be a pirate?!" Tashigi demanded as she fought on. "Think of all the good someone with your abilities could have done!"

Jakon then parried Tashigi's blow in such a way she lost her balance, and he delivered a strong thrust into the swordswoman's stomach. The wind knocked right out of her, she gasped for air before crumpling to the ground before him, writhing in pain.

"You're a naive fool if you think you're think you're working for the good guys," Jakon said plainly, kicking Tashigi's sword out of her reach. He knelt down beside the frustrated Marine now. "The World Government is a corrupt, merciless machine, and the Marines are just their puppets. Their tools. They use good people like you, and people like me to keep their hold on this world. I should know, I spent enough time doing their dirty work."

"Words like that mean nothing . . . coming from a former Shichibukai," Tashigi coughed. "Shichibukai are still pirates!"

"And what if it came from a former agent of the World Government, what would you say then, miss samurai?"

Tashigi managed to look at him, a disbelieving expression on her face. "You're lying!"

"No. No, I'm not. Let me show you," he said, rising to his feet. "Someone as low ranking as you would never know this technique, or where it came from, but if you ever make to the elite, remember what you saw here today. Then you'll I know I was telling the truth."

With that, Jakon raised his leg and delivered a powerful kick, but hitting nothing. At first it looked as if Jakon had just kicked the air for no reason, but then the wall he was facing violently exploded into pieces, as if it had been struck by a cannonball.

"That's Rankyaku, one of the Rokushiki. The Six Styles. No one other than those who are working or have worked for the World Government know that technique, except for Kuina, my student. Teaching it to those not affiliated with the World Government is a crime punishable only by death. You may not believe me now, but you will. You'll see there was no way I could possibly be lying, for there's no other way I could know that technique. Either you'll see the truth, or you're a fool. Simple as that."

Tashigi lied on the floor, speechless, not knowing what to think. All of this was so overwhelming. Jakon knelt down again, hovering right above her face.

"C.P.9.," Jakon said slowly, emphasizing each character so she would remember. "Remember that name, miss samurai. We're the worst the World Government has to offer."

Tashigi tried to raise herself up to get to her weapon, but it was no use, the pain was too great. Jakon prepared himself to leave. The sword shop owner had fled long ago, so there was almost definitely backup for Tashigi on the way. Jakon would have to make a hasty escape. Jakon looked to the sword Tashigi had futilely tried to reach.

"You're wasting your talents, trying to use that katana. It's not built for your physique," Jakon said honestly. He took his own saber off his hip, and dropped it at Tashigi's feet. "You'll do much better if you learn to use that."

"You think I would accept anything from you?!" Tashigi howled.

Jakon looked at her silently for a few seconds before responding, as if actually stung by her words. "No, I suppose not," he admitted with a solemn sigh. "I mean, why should you take advice from me? Look at me," Jakon turned away, towards the hole he made in the wall. "Do what you want, I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do. Farewell, miss samurai."

Tashigi watched, helpless and infinitely frustrated, as Jakon walked out of the store and vanished from view. She could not follow. She could not stop him.

"Damn you!" she yelled after him, but he was already gone.

* * *

_Well I remember, I remember, don't worry, how could I ever forget?_  
_It's the first time, the last time we ever met_  
_But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, oh no you don't fool me_  
_Well the hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows_  
_It's no stranger to you and me!_

_I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord_

_Well been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord_

 

**Phill Collins-In the Air Tonight** _  
_

 

 


	13. With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laskey calls a meeting with the Shichibukai to discuss the threat of Kuina "The Raindodger" at Mary Geoise, which are notorious for being poorly attended. The meeting, however, is interrupted by some urgent news: Kuina is at Saboady Archipelago as they speak, and they're right around the corner.

" _Navy Headquarters to Mary Geoise: announcing the arrival of warlords Donquixote Doflamingo and Bartholomew Kuma,"_ came the echoing voice over the intercom, as the aforementioned pirates made their way from the docks to the looming palace just ahead.

As the capital of the World Government, the Mary Geoise compound is home to countless meetings that are vitally important to the government's continued prosperity. One of such meetings are those when the Shichibukai are called upon, which are arranged periodically to discuss pressing matters on the high seas, almost always having to do with pirates. Although summons were sent to every Shichibukai upon every meeting, only Kuma regularly showed up for them, although Doflamingo was known to show up more than most. Boa Hancock and Dracule Mihawk on the other hand ignored summons so often, they were considered perpetual no-shows.

At this particular meeting, it looked as if only Kuma and Doflamingo had bothered to show up, which was about as much as anyone could hope for. The Shichibukai, while technically allied to the World Government, had no love or loyalty to them. Not to mention they were pirates, so their unreliability was nothing to be surprised about. While usually supervised by Sengoku, the current Fleet Admiral of the Marines, this meeting was being hosted directly by a World Government representative.

Agent Laskey.

This meeting had been called to discuss his primary target and the center of his investigation, Kuina "the Raindodger." He wanted as many people after the Raindodger as possible. Doflamingo, who had previous interactions with the woman in question, was particularly interested when he learned the subject of this meeting, and he wasn't the only one. They were about to begin, but there would be one more yet to come.

"Agh! Stop! What the hell are you doing?!" demanded one of the vice admirals at the meeting, as another Marine had suddenly begun to choke him violently.

"It's not me! I don't know what the hell's going on!" the other Marine said honestly, in no control of his own actions as he assaulted his own comrade.

"This is no time for one of your stupid pranks!"

"It's no prank! It's like something is moving my hands and I can't stop them!"

"That's absurd! Stop! I can't breathe!" said the vice admiral, barely able to speak.

Laskey and other members of Cipher Pol sat in place calmly, not bothered in the least by the trouble of their Marine allies. Laskey already knew who was responsible, but he said nothing. If it went on much longer he would grow impatient, and only then would he call an end to this buffoonery.

Finally, it seemed the one under control was able to deduce the culprit of his current predicament. His eyes went to Donquixote Doflamingo, sitting precariously on the balcony railing just outside, making gentle, but precise movements with his fingers.

"This is your doing Doflamingo! Is this sick game how you amuse yourself?" the Marine demanded, still with no control over his movements.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is. Manipulating fools is a favorite past time of mine. It's just how I deal with boredom. It's your fault really, if you bothered to start this little 'meeting of the minds' sooner, I wouldn't have gotten so bored," he said rather gleefully. "Perhaps we can finally get started then, that is, unless you haven't had enough yet?" Doflamingo said with that dastardly, signature grin of his as he made another movement with his hand, manipulating the unwitting soldier like a living puppet.

The controlled marine now took out his katana, threatening the vice admiral he was just choking with a deadly weapon.

"What do you think you're doing Doflamingo?!" the vice admiral demanded, unsheathing his own blade to defend himself. "This madness has gone on long enough!"

"Oh? But the fun's just beginning," cackled the Shichibukai, with no intention of letting up, for their lives meant nothing to him. The possibility of one of them being seriously injured was of no worry to him.

Suddenly his visibility began to blur, the room filling up with a strange fog. It quickly became so thick Doflamingo could no longer see even right in front of him. Nothing but white mist surrounded him. He looked around, confused, but not concerned.

"Huh? What the hell is this?" he asked to the clouded air, dropping his hand, for he could not accurately control a man he could not see. "This isn't normal at all," he said to himself, standing up straight from his place on the balcony.

Then a figure materialized from the mist in an instant. Laskey, or half of him at least, was now floating in front of a stunned Doflamingo.

"That's enough of your foolishness Doflamingo. What would you have done if one of those men had died? Did you come here to start a war? Are you that much of a madman?"

Doflamingo's smile now returned, as if entertained by his discovery. "Oh? A mist man? Haven't seen that one before. You're one hell of a showoff aren't you? Well, it got my attention, I'll give you that. Can we get this started then?"

"Of course," and with that, Laskey vanished just as quickly as he had appeared, along with all the mist in the room.

Just like that, soon it was clear as day once more. Many of the Marines looked just as caught off guard as Doflamingo was. Gathered in the room were a collection of top-ranking Marines and World Government agents and operators. Among them were the three members of the CP9 currently not on an undercover mission, Jabra, Kumadori, and Fukuro.

"Whew, what a shock," the Warlord admitted, albeit with a laugh as he finally entered the room. "My, my, look at the freakshow we've got gathered here," Doflamingo commented, taking a closer look at all the strange-looking people in attendance, particularly Kumadori and Fukuro. "Who are you clowns anyway? Is the circus in town or something?"

"You've got a lot of nerve to insult us, pirate scum," Jabra said defiantly, rising to his feet. "Who do you think you're talking to?!"

"Sit down you fool," Laskey immediately berated the agent, staring straight ahead.

"But sir, we shouldn't have to take this abuse from—."

Laskey turned to him now, an almost offended look in his eye. "You're an elite agent of the World Government, act like it! If this pirate's petty insults can ruin your composure, then you've got no place here!"

Jabra scowled, but obeyed his superior, taking his seat in protest.

Doflamingo let out a snicker at their bickering, "I've never seen any of you before. Doesn't that tool Sengoku usually host these things?"

"Sengoku already knows the situation, and is otherwise occupied. Besides, I'm in charge of this operation."

"Oh? And who the hell are you anyway?" Doflamingo asked now, knowing very well he wouldn't get a straight answer.

"You may address me as Agent Laskey. Other than that, all you need to know is I represent the interests of the World Government. Nothing more."

"You fools and your secrets. I already know you must be Cipher Pol. What's the point of being so taciturn? Well, that's fine. I've got my own secrets," Doflamingo said with a sneer.

The World Government was unware of Doflamingo's underworld dealings with the Raindodger, as not much was known about the Raindodger at all when said dealings were being done. It wasn't information Doflamingo was too keen on giving out either, for obvious reasons. Not to mention, he loved knowing things that other people didn't, especially a faction as all-encompassing as the World Government. It played to his cunning, manipulative nature. Laskey thought little of Doflamingo's claim at the time. If only he knew how interesting the Warlod's own secrets were, he wouldn't have dismissed the matter so quickly.

"Is this really the average attendance of the Warlords for these meetings? How pitiful," Laskey said as he took his seat once more, noting only two of out of the seven Shichibukai had bothered to attend.

"What? Were you not 'informed'?" Doflamingo asked mockingly as he approached the table. "Mihawk and Hancock never show up at all, as for the rest, I guess they all had better things to do. I mean, that's the only reason I'm here," Doflamingo said as he rather disrespectfully climbed on top of the meeting table, then even more disrespectfully sat down on the table itself, in an almost pretzel position. "My business back home is doing so well, I had nothing better to do with my time. I planned on venturing back into Paradise to tie up a few loose ends anyway, so I came here out of sheer boredom."

"Nothing is more sickening to me than the news of a pirate empire flourishing," said Laskey, reminding him they were only allies of convenience, nothing more.

Doflamingo scoffed, "You know, while I admire a man who's not afraid to speak his mind, if I were you, I would remember that there  _are_  limits," Doflamingo menacingly implied, making a very distinct, threatening hand gesture.

"Are you quite done?" Laskey asked, becoming impatient with the warlord.

"Oh, I suppose," he turned to Kuma now, who hadn't said a word since they got here. "What about you 'Tyrant'? Anything to add before we begin?" Doflamingo asked, more as a joke than an actual question.

Kuma briefly looked to Doflamingo, before turning to look straight ahead again without a response.

"Guess not," he said, turning his attention ahead once more.

It was then they heard the sound of loud footsteps echoing down the hallway, so loud in fact, that they all turned to the source of the sound, wondering who else would be joining them.

"Oh? Who's this now?" Doflamingo asked himself, for he too was curious.

Could it be Crocodile? Or Moriah? Jinbe? It couldn't possibly be Boa.

"So good to hear your dulcet voice again, Doflamingo. I could hear it carrying all the way down the hall."

"That voice. . ." noted Doflamingo, recognizing it immediately.

No one knew how to react when Dracule Mihawk, "The Greatest Swordsman in the World," walked in rather unceremoniously, all except Doflamingo, who looked both excited and entertained by the shocking turn of events. Kuma, on the other hands, as with most matters, seemed to have no reaction at all.

"I have never understood the purpose of these meetings," said Mihawk, citing the reason for his almost non-existent attendance rate. "All they do is perpetuate the illusion that the Warlords of the Sea and the World Government get along, and I'm just not that dishonest. Generally speaking, the Shichibukai are about as fond of the government and the Marines as the Yonko. Less so, even."

No announcement had been made of Mihawk's arrival. It appeared he had somehow snuck in, which in Laskey's eyes, was worrying, considering the compound was the government's capital. It should not have been possible to sneak up on them like that, yet Mihawk had somehow managed it.

"Well, well, 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk. Perhaps this little meeting of the minds will be interesting after all," Doflamingo said eagerly as the swordsman joined the blond pirate at his side.

"No one expected to see you here," said Laskey, who had already been familiar with Mihawk's behavior, becoming immediately suspicious. "You've never displayed an interest in our interests before. What are your intentions?" the agent asked straight-up.

"The 'Raindodger' is of interest to me, and I just cleared up my latest business. Apparently, she's so important to you, you had to call a meeting specifically to address her. What can I say? It peaked my curiosity, so here I am," Mihawk replied.

"Of course, I should have known all along. You're interested in Kuina because of her master, aren't you? You never got the chance to fight the real deal, so now you want to make up for it by defeating his successor," Doflamingo concluded, confident he was correct. "How very selfish of you Mihawk, and here I thought you were here to carry out the wishes of our esteemed world leaders," said Donquixote with a not so subtle hint of sarcasm.

Doflamingo had hit the nail on the head. Jakon Romanov had disappeared just as Mihawk was rising in the world, and he had never gotten the pleasure of fighting the Phantom, so taking his place as the World's Greatest Swordsman when he vanished always seemed somewhat undeserved. Like he had won by default. If this Kuina really was his successor, he had to see what she could do, to see if she was worthy of his time. He had to admit, he was skeptical of a woman being so fearsome as a swordsman. He had always thought that while a woman could be very impressive, excellent even, their physical disadvantages would be too much to overcome to ever hope of becoming "the best," but her reputation did not lie. There were first-hand accounts of Kuina's prowess and ruthless efficiency, and Mihawk just had to see her for himself.

"Don't be too impressed with yourself, Doflamingo. My interest is hardly a secret, nor was it particularly hard to guess," Mihawk said back.

"I'm not impressed with myself any more than I already was," Doflamingo said with a chuckle.

"And why are you here, exactly?" Mihawk asked back, unware of Doflamingo's previous association with Kuina. "What interest could you possibly have in the 'Raindodger'?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? That's for me to know and you to figure out," Doflamingo replied, a gleam reflecting off his colorful glasses. "Sorry, but I'm not as much an open book as you are."

Mihawk let the question go, assuming that Doflamingo was just playing around as usual, and that he probably wouldn't be interested in the actual reason anyway. He would have been wrong, for unbeknownst to him and everyone else in the room, Doflamingo held quite sensitive information about the 'Raindodger'.

Kuma, the Tyrant, had remained silent the entire time so far, and seemed content to continue this behavior. Mihawk noticed that over time, Kuma's personality was becoming less and less prominent. He had his suspicions, but didn't overall care enough to think about it too much. For a man like Mihawk, there were few things that peaked his interest, retribution being among them.

"Well, I'm sure no one else is going to show up, so we may as well get started," Laskey announced. "By now, I'm sure you've all at least heard of the Raindodger, for she's made quite a stir in recent months. She's quickly established herself as one of the most dangerous members of Whitebard's crew."

"Why does this concern us?" Kuma said, finally speaking up.

"The 'Raindodger' is of very special interest to the World Government, and is considered a priority target, and we have confirmed reports that her and fellow crewmate, 'Fist Fist' Ace, are currently separated from the rest of the crew. Any of you who would choose to aid in her capture would be granted great rewards far exceeding just her bounty, but I'm not delusional. I don't expect any of you take much of an interest in that offer. That's not why I called you here."

"So why did you call us here?" Doflamingo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As a warning," Laskey said simply. "I'm quite aware that despite your ties with us, you three commonly brush up against and work with pirates not sanctioned by the World Government. Up until this point, we've let you get away with such transgressions, but know this, any association with the Raindodger will not be tolerated. If you are caught helping her, sheltering her, or aiding her in anyway, the consequences will be dire. That is what I called you all here to say."

"Well well, she must have really pissed you guys off," Doflamingo said, not intimidated or worried in the slightest. "What makes this little girl so important to you that she needs 'special rules'? That we're allowed to deal with members of the Yonko, but not her? What makes her so special?"

"Classified information, and none of your concern," Laskey answered.

Doflamingo let out his all too familiar laugh. "You people are really something, you know that? Telling me who I can and can't deal with, threatening me as if I were one of your little pets. Tell me, how do you plan to enforce this little rule? You fools don't know half the shit I do anyway."

"We know more than you think, 'Joker'," Laskey shot back.

"Ooooooh, look at the big bad secret agent man," Doflamingo mocked him, not impressed at all with Laskey's knowledge of his codename. "Who knows, maybe I'll find this 'Raindodger' and give her a helping hand, just to screw with you. Then again, you'd probably never find out about it anyway."

"What makes you think that?" Laskey asked sternly, now developing a suspicion.  
Doflamingo answered with only a silent, wide smile.

Before anything else could be said, the door opened suddenly, a man in a suit rushing in. He made a straight line to Laskey, a report in his hands.

"Agent Laskey, urgent news!"

"We're in the middle of something, what could be so important?" he asked as he swiped the paper from the man's hands. He opened it quickly, his eyes scanning over the contents. The next second he handed the letter back to the man, rising from his seat.

"It seems that Kuina has been spotted in Sabaody Archipelago, and is currently there as we speak, along with 'Fist Fist' Ace, which means we're cutting this meeting short."

Thanks to Ace's and Kuina's reckless, unsubtle entrance into the Archipelago, news of their presence spread like a virus. Officials on the island caught wind of their arrival in a matter of minutes, and after that, all it took was one quick Den Den Mushi call to Mary Geoise, which was hardly a stone's throw of a distance from Sabaody. Kuina and Ace were about to have company. A lot of company.

"Heh, right under your nose," Doflamingo said, quite amused.

"Help us if you wish to gain our favor. Otherwise, stay far out of our way," Laskey said quickly, departing just as fast, the other agents following.

"I have no desire to help you," Mihawk suddenly said, "But I do have interest in taking on this 'Raindodger' myself."

"Your reasons are irrelevant to me," Laskey responded just as coldly, not even stopping to look at Mihawk before leaving the room.

Kuma rose from his seat, and headed out after Mihawk, and soon Doflamingo was the only one left in the room, besides the guards.

"How interesting. Maybe coming here wasn't a complete waste of time after all. . ."

He then rose from his position, knocking over a chair as he left. Not clumsily, just carelessly. He too, would be going to Sabaody Archipelago, but he had no intention of aiding in Kuina's capture. The "Raindodger" had been very useful to him in the past, and she'd be even more useful if she owed him a favor.


	14. The Great Escape Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the powers of the CP9 and two Shichibukai descending on their position, Kuina and Ace must attempt a hasty escape from Sabaody, before it's too late.

Do you know anyone around here? Because I don't. I wasn't here very long the last time," Kuina said as she walked with Ace.

Kuina had been following Ace around for more than half an hour without saying much, assuming he knew where he was going. The entire time they had stayed in the lawless zone of the Archipelago, which showed Kuina that this place was even bigger than she thought. Nearly everyone was giving them a wide berth, since Kuina had rather foolishly given up their identities for the sake of her pride at the docks. They knew they might see some trouble later on, but neither of them could have ever imagined the size of the hammer that was about to be brought down upon them.

"Yeah, I do," Ace replied, "She's someone who likes to keep her ear to the ground. If anything happens on this island she probably knows about it."

Kuina let Ace take the lead since he knew the way and she, obviously, didn't. He guided her through the island until they came to a rather large building with a sign that read "Shakky's Rip-off Bar."

"A bar?" Kuina asked skeptically.

"Yeah, she runs it. Shakky," Ace said.

"Of course, it's a bar. What else would it be?" Kuina asked herself with a sigh.

"Try to be nice."

"Yeah, yeah." Kuina mumbled begrudgingly as she followed her friend.

When they walked in, they received almost nothing but nervous, frightened stares. The woman behind the counter on the other hand, gave them a hard look. Ace walked right up to the bar, while Kuina lingered in the middle of the room, keeping a suspicious eye on the bar's patrons. They clearly knew who the pair were and they were clearly afraid. Still, they had foolishly made themselves potential targets for someone who would want to make a name for him or herself. And pirates, if nothing else, were an unpredictable lot.

"Hello Shakky," he said to the woman giving her a friendly smile.

"Ace. Didn't expect to see you again anytime soon. You're not here to cause trouble are you?" Shakky asked, eyeing him with undisguised suspicion.

"No, why would you think that?"

"You two have been here for all of five minutes and you've already nearly killed a man. That sounds like trouble to me."

Ace turned to glare at Kuina, who only shrugged in response. Word travelled very fast around here. Faster than they could walk, apparently.

"My friend tends to overreact. It's a bad habit of hers."

"He attacked me first," Kuina said, wanting to make that clear. "Asshole is lucky to be alive."

"Not much of a people person, are you?" Shakky said.

Kuina ignored her.

"So, what do you two want?" Shakky asked, sensing they weren't there for a drink.

"We're looking for a traitorous former crewmate of ours named Marshall D. Teach. He stole something valuable from one of our comrades after murdering him in cold blood. We're here for justice. Ever heard of him?"

"You mean Blackbeard? That's what he's calling himself now."

"So he was here?"

"He was on the island, but he didn't stop by here," Shakky said, "From what I've heard about him, I'm pretty grateful. If you're lucky, and he's careless, he might still be on the island. However, I'm sure he knows you're looking for him. And since everyone now knows you're here, he's likely about to make himself scarce."

"If he didn't stop by here, how do you know he was on the island?" Kuina asked.

"I make a point to learn everything I can about everything, Kuina, Knowledge is power after all," Shakky said with a smile.

"So what? You know my name. Lots of people know my name," Kuina shot back with a shrug. It would take more than a bit of name throwing to impress her.

"Do a lot of people also know that you hail from a small village in the East Blue?"

Kuina flinched.

"What about the fact that your father is a dojo master named Koshiro? Or that you faked your death? Or—."

"Okay, I get it," Kuina cut her off, thoroughly disturbed. "You know a lot."

Shakky's Den Den Mushi started to ring.

"Wonder if that's Raleigh. I'll be right back," Shakky said, leaving to go answer the call.

"Well crap," Ace sighed, "I was hoping to get something to eat, but if he's about to escape, we don't have time to waste."

"Everything here is absurdly overpriced anyway," Kuina noted, taking a look at the prices of the drinks. "'Rip-off Bar' indeed. Come on, let's go," Kuina said, turning to leave.

"Yeah, alright," Ace agreed, about to follow.

"Hey, Raindodger!" came Shakky's voice.

Kuina spun around to see Shakky had returned, holding the receiver of the Den Den Mushi up. The look on her face was not a joyous one.

"It's for you."

Kuina looked at her like she had just grown a second head. Who would know to call her here? Someone very well-informed. Someone who knew exactly where she was at that very moment. Ace looked just as confused.

"Who is it?" Kuina asked suspiciously, approaching.

"He didn't say, but from the voice, I have a pretty good idea," Shakky asked as Kuina quickly took the receiver from her hands.

"Hello? Who is this?" Kuina demanded.

From the other side came a laugh. A very, very distinct laugh. One that she would recognize anywhere. It sent chills down her spine, which few things did.

 _"Kuina_ _._ _Kuina_ _._ _Kuina. For a former assassin, your discretion leaves a lot to be desired. Then again, hiding and striking from the dark never was your strong suit, was it? An honorable assassin, isn't that right? What a contradiction you were,"_  came the voice, laughing once more.  _"How have you been 'Raindodger'?"_

"I'm sorry. Who is this?" Kuina played dumb, trying her best not to sound too unnerved.

 _"I hear you've been doing pretty well for yourself, actually. Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Not bad at all. But you know, I have to admit, I was surprised when I heard you joined Whitebeard. Why him of all people? I mean_ _,_ _sure, they're strong and all, but where's the killer instinct? Where's that ruthless girl I used to know? No, that place isn't for you,"_ Doflamingo kept on, continuing to taunt her.

"What the hell do you want, Doflamingo?" Kuina asked now, dropping the act. It was pointless anyways.

Doflamingo knew how to get to her, but then again, he knew how to get to just about everyone. If he wanted to charm you, he knew what to say, and if wanted to bother you, he knew  _exactly_ what to say.

"No way . . . Doflamingo?" Ace gaped in the background, disbelieving.

"That's what I thought," Shakky said, rather disturbed herself.

Even she didn't know why Doflamingo of all people would be calling Kuina. Not even the World Government knew about their previous association, so how could Shakky?

 _"Don't sound so displeased_ _,_ _Kuina. You'll be glad you heard from me, you'll see. We haven't got much time, so I'll make this quick. You're about to have a lot of company very soon I'm afraid, and none of it is coming with smiles,"_ the Warlord's snickered gleefully.

"What are you talking about?"

 _"The World Government is after you,_ _Kuina, and not just in the usual way. They've got it out for you and they're sending quite a mean-looking group of fellows to come get you as we speak. They'll take Ace_ _,_ _too_ _. B_ _ut he's just an afterthought to these guys. They're tools for sure, but in terms of power, they're nothing to scoff at. Especially that leader of theirs. You need to get out of there. Now._

Kuina didn't know how to respond.

"Kuina, what the hell's going on?" Ace asked, not fond of being kept out of the loop.

"Just. . . shut up for a second," Kuina quieted him, trying to get a grasp on the situation herself. She brought the receiver back to her mouth to continue. "I don't understand, why are they after me? What the hell did I do that was so bad?"

 _"They wouldn't tell me. Top secret, classified nonsense and all that. You would know better than I would_ _,_ _Kuina. They're not alone either."_

"An Admiral?" Kuina asked, now growing very tense.

_"Worse. Shichibukai. Two of them."_

"You're not one of them, are you?" Kuina asked with a suspicious tone.

That got a laugh from Doflamingo.  _"You think I would call to warn you if I was coming after you? Who do you think you're talking to, Kuina? Besides, I wouldn't do that. We're friends, remember?"_

Kuina shuddered at that thought. "Who then?"

 _"Bartholomew Kuma . . ."_  Doflamingo paused, knowing the next one would excite her much more than the first.  _". . . and Dracule Mihawk."_

"Mihawk?" Kuina repeated incredulously. But now she was interested, just as Doflamingo knew she would be. After all, Mihawk did hold the title of "World's Greatest Swordsman."

Facing him in a duel was her dream. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Except it wasn't. As badly as Kuina wanted to fight Mihawk, the opposing force would simply be too overwhelming for just the two of them. She didn't have a death wish, and she couldn't risk Ace's life based on her own selfish desires. As much as Kuina hated to admit it, this was the time to cut and run, not stand and fight.

"Why are you helping me?"

 _"I just told you, we're friends. Of course, I'd expect a favor in return. I'm risking quite a bit by doing this, believe it or not. They might even revoke my position as a Warlord. What a tragedy that would be,"_ Doflamingo said, but the tone of his voice made Kuina think he actually didn't care too much about that possibility.

"Fine," Kuina said reluctantly, "If we get out of this, I'll owe you one."

 _"Oh, you'll owe me a lot more than one, Kuina."_ Doflamingo let out one last cackle before hanging up.

Kuina lowered the receiver, quickly handing it back to Shakky.

"Ace," she started, turning to her friend, an even more serious look than usual in her eyes. "We need to leave. Now."

* * *

Within a few minutes, several large bubbles, looking as if they contained humans inside of them, descended on Sabaody Archipelago. They crashed to the surface one by one, causing a panic among the inhabitants of the island. Rather than sail to Sabaody, which Laskey feared would take too long, he took advantage of Kuma's teleportation-like powers to get every single one of them there in almost no time at all. It was a bit silly seeming, but undeniably practical.

Laskey emerged from the smoke caused by the impact, ignoring the gasps and stunned looks from the witnesses. He scanned the sky, able to make out a few clouds of smoke where the others must have landed. The one disadvantage of this mode of travel was it was not precise. What part of the island each one arrived on was totally random, so they were separated and disorganized. Still, this seemed like the best method to go with. At least this way they would cover more ground.

A thick mist began to emanate from Laskey's body, quickly spreading in all directions, and soon the figure of Laskey had dissolved entirely. The fog spread at an alarming rate, encompassing a large part of the island in mere moments. Before long, all of Sabaody Archipelago would be consumed in an impenetrable mist.

It was times like this when Kuina wished she had come here by herself. If she didn't have to worry about Ace, she could have sped off this island in a few seconds and ran across the sea. But there was no way she was going to leave Ace behind. The whole reason they were in danger was because of her. She had no idea what the World Government wanted her so bad for, but she didn't have time to think about it now. Kuina kept a steady pace, leading the trailing Ace, being careful not to go too fast. Even when using his fire to propel himself, he was still nowhere near the level of speed Kuina was capable of. They were on a direct route, a straight line headed for the ocean.

"Kuina! The ship's not this way!" Ace yelled as he tried to keep pace.

"Screw the ship! I've got a better idea. You can use your fire as propulsion to fly, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well then start flying! When we reach the water I'll just keep running!"

"Well, alright!" Ace said, impressed with Kuina's quick thinking. "But wait, what do we do after? I can't fly forever, Kuina!"

"We'll figure that out later!"

Kuina was right. There was no time to worry about what would happen next. They'd have to worry about that after they escaped. Ace then launched himself into the sky until he was dozens of feet overhead.

That's when Kuma's bubbles came out of nowhere, crashing just in front of them. Kuina came to a quick halt, her path blocked by the sudden obstruction. Ace didn't seem to have noticed and kept on flying.

"What the hell is this?" Kuina said, shielding her eyes from the smoke cloud that had surrounded her.

The smoke cleared to reveal the figure of a tall, lean man, coughing on the dust and debris his own impact had caused. "Ach! Damn you Laskey, making me be a damn human cannonball! Never doing that again!"

In Kuina's way stood Jabra, one of the most powerful members CP9 had to offer. It wasn't long before he noticed the astounded Kuina standing right in front of him. By pure chance, he had landed right in front of his intended target.

"Well, well, would you look at that? Must be my lucky day!" He said, taking his fighting stance. "That's bad news for you, pirate!"

 _"Dammit! They're here already?! I don't have time for this!"_ Kuina cursed to herself. She could see Ace in the distance, still flying away. Hopefully, he would notice he had left her behind sooner rather than later.

"Who the hell are you people? What do you want with me?" Kuina demanded, drawing her sword.

"Wouldn't matter even if I told you, you'll be dead soon anyway!" And with that, Jabra began his transformation into his wolf form, more than tripling in size.

Kuina didn't like the idea of running from a battle, not one bit, but she couldn't waste time fighting this man. She could already tell he was no weakling. He wouldn't just let her run past. She would have to go through him. Kuina swung her sword through the air many times in the blink of an eye, shooting out rapid shockwaves one after another. Jabra proceeded to dodge each and every one of them, impossibly bending his body in a technique very familiar to Kuina, as it was her own. She looked at him with wide eyes, dumbstruck. It had been the first time she had ever seen anyone besides herself or Jakon use that technique.

"So it's true!" Jabra said, standing up straight once more. "You do know some bastardized form of Rokushiki! To think a pirate could know even one of our techniques! It's disgusting!"

That's when Kuina remembered Marco told her months ago now, back on board the Moby Dick. He told her he had seen those moves before, from a secret World Government organization. This man must be a member from the group, but what was that name again?

"CP9," Kuina said, remembering it as she spoke it. "You must be from CP9."

"Look at that, more secrets you shouldn't know," Jabra replied, confirming her guess. "Oh well, I'll fix that right now! Let's see how good at Rokushiki you are, Raindodger!"

Jabra burst forward at Kuina, dashing like the wild dog he was, going on the offensive.

"Come and get it, asshole," Kuina said softly, letting Jabra come to her.

All Jabra saw was Kuina just standing there. To his own inflated ego, this could mean only one thing. Kuina had accepted her fate.

"Not even gonna fight back, huh? Smart choice, I'll make it quick!"

Jabra had closed within an inescapable distance. Or at least, it should have been. He pounced on Kuina, baring his claws, ready to strike. He descended on Kuina like a bird of prey from the sky, and hit nothing. Jabra landed off balance, as he made no physical contact when he expected to. Like the feeling you get when you're going down the stairs and you think there's one more, but you miscounted, so you just stumble over like a clumsy oaf. That's what this was like for Jabra.

The confused wolf man looked up to see none other than Kuina, standing with the same calm expression she had on seconds ago. Had he missed her? She didn't look like she had moved. Kuina did want to escape, but first, she couldn't resist making Jabra look like a fool by using her advanced gliding combination of the arts Geppo and Soru. But Kuina wasn't giving him anymore time to think about it, however.

She took advantage of his caught off-guard state, striking with a movement so fast it was invisible to the normal human eye. She rushed right past the disoriented agent, dealing out a deep gash across his hamstring as she passed, hoping that it would cripple him. Jabra howled in pain as Kuina quickly left him the dust, falling to one knee with blood gushing from the back of the other.

"You sneaky little brat! I'm not done with you yet!" he screamed defiantly. If there was one thing Jabra was known for, besides his uncouth arrogance, it was his annoying persistence, as Kuina was about to find out.

Thanks to Jabra's enhanced, superhuman body, he was still able to continue even after a strike that would normally render one's leg useless. He whipped around in a violent frenzy, delivering a powerful Rankyaku kick at the fleeing Kuina.

"Take this!"

The shockwave that erupted from Jabra's leg was enormous, much larger than normal. Kuina, who thought she was in the clear, was able to hear the nearing attack as it swept straight through every building or structure in its path, sending Sabaody's inhabitants running for cover. Kuina was able to react in time, leaping over the massive air blade before it reached her, but she had to come to a complete halt to do it. And that was all the time Jabra needed. The wolf man seemed to just appear in front of Kuina, traveling at impressive speeds.

 _"Soru!"_ Kuina thought, frustrated as for once, she had to deal with being on the opposite side of this technique.

"Thought you could get away from me?" Jabra snarled as he unleashed a barrage of close range strikes.

Kuina, with a combination of Haki, superior speed, and Kami-e, was able to dodge every one of Jabra's attacks, but her opponent wasn't giving up either.

"How dare you use our own technique against us! Someone like you, you're not even worthy to know the name 'Rokushiki'!"

 _"How the hell is this guy still coming at me like this? I could have sworn I severed his tendon! Damn Zoan users! Enough is enough!"_ the frustrated Kuina decided.

Kuina went on the counter-attack. After dodging one final swipe, she immediately struck Jabra with an adapted form of Shigan, using a sword thrust instead of her finger. The sudden, painful attack stunned Jabra, but Kuina wasn't done. She unleashed a barrage of her own, landing dozens of the same strike on Jabra's oversized body in a rapid, vicious onslaught. Kuina's Seastone embedded blade stunned and disabled the Devil Fruit user each time he was struck, making him powerless to retaliate.

Finally, after a long ten seconds of being used as a living training dummy, Kuina was positive she had either killed him or rendered him entirely useless. She ceased her offensive, panting rather heavily as an attack that prolonged and powerful took a lot out of her. The white-eyed Jabra stood still for a moment, his arms hanging limply at his sides, before falling over in a bloody heap, motionless.

"Alright then," Kuina sighed with relief, "Now where the hell is A—."

Before she could finish, Kuina was struck from seemingly nowhere by what can only be described as a giant, human cannonball.

"Chapapa!" came the figure's strange, high-pitched voice.

Being the lightweight that she was, Kuina was knocked totally off her feet and sent spiraling, crashing through the wall of a local pirate bar. The owner and patrons looked on in a shocked terror as the swordswoman struggled to get up.

"What . . . the hell . . . was that?" Kuina yelled in frustration as she climbed to her feet, aggravated and in pain. Kuina noticed the stunned onlookers as she made her way out.

"Don't mind me, by all means, continue drinking your lives away," Kuina said, rather passive aggressively as she exited. She was never fond of drunks, and definitely wasn't in the kindest of moods, given the situation.

Kuina emerged from the wreckage, laying eyes on the strange creature that had blindsided her. A massive, ball-shaped humanoid with a zipper for a mouth. One of the weakest members of CP9, but still superhuman in his own right. Fukuro.

"Yuck! What kind of hellish nightmare-scape did you spawn from?" Kuina taunted Fukuro, disgusted by his freakish appearance.

"Fukuro! Get the hell out of here! This is my kill!" the gravely wounded Jabra managed to groan out, still not ready to give up, despite the fact he could barely move.

"Your kill? But you failed spectacularly!"

"You zipper-mouthed bastard! What makes you think you stand a chance?"

" _That guy's still conscious? Are you kidding? What the hell is he made out of?"_ Kuina thought, amazed at Jabra's endurance. As much as she hated to admit it, there was no way she would be able to withstand an attack like that. Endurance was always her weakest point, making Tekkai her weakest art out of the six. There was a reason she barely used it. Still, she was fairly positive Jabra wouldn't be moving around any time soon.

Kuina was already able to tell Fukuro wasn't even half as strong as Jabra, so at best he'd merely be a nuisance to her. Then again, right now everyone was a nuisance. By now, Ace had probably made it off the island without realizing Kuina wasn't with him.

"I don't have time for this! Out of my way!" Kuina demanded as she surged forward, set to take out Fukuro with one powerful strike.

Kuina used advanced Soru to move behind Fukuro, in a movement so fast it could be mistaken for teleportation. Kuina spun around with a powerful kick, using her mind-bending speed to give the strike that much more force. In a strange role reversal, it was now Kuina who sent Fukuro flying. Fukuro sailed through the window of what looked like some sort of pirate cannon shop, colliding violently with the metal models inside. The spherical operative clanged from cannon to cannon like a living pinball, before cracking his skull on a super-sized artillery gun, the kind used to shoot at ships you can barely see. Fukuro slid to the ground, motionless. After an impact like that, the CP9 operative would have been lucky to be alive, let alone conscious.

"Stay down," Kuina taunted her enemy, at the edge of her patience.

"Now you're mine!" came a threatening howl from behind.

"Wha—?"

Kuina spun around to see Jabra already in the air, descending on her with his razor sharp claws. She had forgotten one of the pinnacle rules of fighting: never turn your back on an opponent, even an injured one. Even so, Kuina thought he was too weak to stand up, but Jabra had exaggerated his injuries for a chance to catch Kuina off guard. A sneaky trick by a cunning wolf. He had used Fukuro's defeat as a distraction, the boisterous clamor he had made colliding with the cannons covering his movements nicely.

He had worked his way into a perfect position, waiting to pounce at the right moment. Even with her sharp instincts, Kuina wouldn't be able to dodge in time, at least not entirely. Kuina managed to glide enough to avoid the brunt of the attack, but not all of it. Jabra's claws tore through Kuina's right shoulder like butter, taking a good chunk of her favorite coat along with it.

Kuina let out a pained scream before jumping away out of Jabra's reach before he could attack again. Luckily for Kuina she was left-handed. Kuina stood a fair distance away from Jabra now, clutching her gushing arm as it soaked her coat sleeve with blood. A seething glare burned in her eye, the closest thing you'd ever see to pure, unadulterated hatred. In that moment, she wanted nothing more in the world than to see this dirty mongrel as dead as a hammer.

"You loathsome, despicable piece of shit!" Kuina lashed, absolutely livid.

"It's your fault, pirate. Never turn your back on a hungry wolf," Jabra said back with a toothy grin.

As much as it pained Kuina to admit it, Jabra was correct. She had gotten careless, and Jabra had almost taken her head off for it. Kuina, for all of her natural talent, had almost gotten killed over her inexperience. So yes, Jabra was right, but that just made her hate him even more.

"I'm going to kill you now," Kuina growled, raising her sword. "I promise you, it won't be painless."

"Oooh, how sinister of you," Jabra cackled, readying himself as well.

"Stop!" came a sudden voice.

Both fighters turned to see the source. Jabra's face was an expression of irritation, while Kuina's was a combination of awe, excitement and dismay. Into their full view, stepped Dracule "Hawk-eyes" Mihawk.

"I don't enjoy interfering and stopping a good fight, but this time I must insist. Government dog," he said, now addressing Jabra, "The 'Raindodger' is mine. Stay out of it from here on out."

"What?" Jabra yelled, enraged by his demand, "You can't boss me around, pirate! I don't care if you are a Warlord, you've got no damn authority over me!"

"I don't care about your chain of command. I'll kill you if you try to intervene. Simple as that."

"I'm no petty Marine foot soldier, you can't treat me like I'm nothing! The World Government would revoke your Warlord status if you even lay a hand on me!"

"Do you honestly think I care?" Mihawk replied with a totally straight face, "That would be a minor inconvenience at best."

Kuina could hardly believe what she was seeing. Dracule Mihawk, in the flesh. A man she had only heard tales about until now. Not only that, but he clearly had an interest facing her in a duel. But why? Had the stories about her impressed him that much? Or did it have something to do with Jakon? Whatever the reason, she was both humbled and honored. The terrible tragedy of it is that this was neither the place nor the time. As a matter of fact, she had no time at all.

"You expect me to just walk away from this?"

"I don't care what you do. You can stand and watch if you like, but if you even try to interfere, I won't hesitate to cleave you in half."

Jabra growled in rebellion like a wild animal. It looked as if he would rather take the chance of attacking the Shichibukai, rather than stand down. It was then, however, that a sudden thick fog rolled in, engulfing them like a massive wave of water, far faster than any natural mist was capable of.

"What's this?" Kuina asked herself quietly, being the only one who didn't know what, or rather who, was responsible.

A figure began to form in front of Mihawk, and since the fog was so thick, only he was able to see it with any degree of clarity.

"You forget your place, Mihawk," said Laskey, now standing in front of the swordsman, fully materialized. "The 'Raindodger' is not yours, no matter how much you may wish it."

"Step aside, assassin. I'm not afraid to go through you as well," Mihawk made clear.

"Are you really willing to go that far?" Laskey asked, studying him.

"Do you think I'm one to bluff?" Mihawk asked back.

Laskey scowled, seeming to be able to tell Mihawk was in fact, not bluffing. The last thing he needed was a loose cannon like him complicating matters even more, and he was far too powerful to deal with easily.

Kuina could hear voices, but the fog was far too thick to see through. She had to rely on her training in Haki to figure out what was happening. Using this ability, she could see the auras of everyone through the mist. Jabra was still standing off on his own. Mihawk was also in the same place he was earlier, but now a third figure had entered the fray. She wasn't sure what was going on, but to her, this haze seemed like the perfect cover for a hasty escape. Without wasting another second, she made a break for it. But even with her incredible speed, she didn't get far. Laskey appeared in front of her in an instant, stopping Kuina in her tracks.

"You can't use the mist to escape me, Raindodger. I am the mist," Laskey said.

"What the hell do you people want with me?" Kuina demanded.

"You're a bearer of secrets, Raindodger. A liability. A loose end, albeit a very troublesome one," Laskey explained. "I went through lot of trouble to learn exactly who you are and where you came from, Kuina. I even paid a visit to your father, Koshiro."

Kuina flinched, then her eyes narrowed.

"What did you do to my father?" Kuina asked, beginning to shake.

"Oh? So you do care about him. How interesting."

With that, he then raised his hands, pushing them away from his body in opposite directions. The mist began to clear, at least in the nearby area. A circle of clear air formed, the thick fog still surrounding the four fighters on all sides. Kuina could now see all of her enemies clearly, and they could see her. Laskey turned back to Mihawk now.

"You will have your fight, Mihawk, but it will be under my supervision," Laskey said reluctantly.

Mihawk nodded, apparently content with Laskey's terms. He raised his colossal blade with one hand, pointing it right at Kuina.

"I never got a chance to face your master, Raindodger, so you'll have to do. For your sake, I hope you're not a disappointment."

* * *

**AN: So I finally got a beta! She was a ton of help.**

**Beta'd by: FlipThePages.**


	15. The Great Escape Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cornered by Mihawk and World Government agents, Kuina must fight for her life, and desperately hope Ace will return before it's too late. Luckily for her, she gets some help from a very unexpected source.

__

After a few minutes of flying at his top speed, Ace had crossed over the shore of Sabaody and was now sailing through the sky over the endless blue ocean. Still, he wanted to be absolutely sure he was in the clear, and kept going, thinking there was no way Kuina wouldn't see the trail of flames he had left in his wake.

 _"Alright, this should be far enough,"_  Ace thought with a huff, the flying spree taking quite a bit of his energy.

He was positive Kuina would be able to follow his path, after all. It wasn't exactly hard to miss. However, when he looked down towards the water, he saw no trace of his comrade. If he had been checking more often, he would have realized Kuina had not been with him in quite some time. At first he was just confused, knowing even on foot, Kuina was able to cover ground much faster than him. Either she had gone on an all-out sprint and had left Ace in the dust, or something had gone terribly wrong with their plan. Knowing Kuina would never abandon him, it could only be the latter. Kuina was in trouble, and here he was, a mile away from being able to help.

"Dammit!" Ace cursed himself for being so foolish, turning himself around back towards the island.

Returning to face such overwhelming odds was a brave, but insane, move. Not many pirates were crazy or loyal enough to go back for an ally knowing they'd have to face the World Government's finest agents and two Warlords. Luckily for Kuina, Ace was one of those pirates. Not that she didn't already know that. She knew Ace would come back for her without a second thought, it was just a matter of whether or not he'd arrive in time.

At the moment, Kuina was in the toughest of spots. An infinitely powerful Shichibukai stood in her way, and behind him, a shadowy agent with unknown abilities and who knew what else was closing in. She couldn't flee, she had already tried that. Her only hope right now was to fight through it, or at least kill enough time for Ace to arrive. Kuina felt uneasy, as if she was standing in the presence of a god. Mihawk was an icon to swordsmen everywhere, and in terms of respect, she held him in the highest regard. Now, however, he was her enemy and he was standing in her way. If Kuina wanted any chance of getting out of this, she needed to pull herself together. After all, despite his reputation, Mihawk was just a man, not a god.

"Dracule Mihawk," Kuina said to her opponent, more than a bit anxious, "This is a great honor, truly. I've dreamed about facing you ever since I was a child. On any other day I would gladly fight you, but I'm afraid you've caught me on a bad day."

"That'd be quite the opportunity you'd be passing up Raindodger, that is, if you had the choice. Let's not stand on ceremony, I want to see what you've got."

"As you wish," Kuina said back, bracing herself as best she could. The chances of her getting out of this alive were looking bleaker and bleaker with each passing second. The only thing she could do was hope Ace would come back, and hold out for as long as she could.

Kuina waited for Mihawk to make the first move, a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret. After a brief, tense standoff, Mihawk raised his sword, and brought it back down in the blink of an eye, sending a powerful, horizontal air blade in Kuina's direction. Kuina deftly leapt over the attack, answering with a flurry of her own, lighter blows in mid-air. Mihawk easily parried each one that came his way. After he knocked the last one away, he noticed Kuina had vanished from her position, quickly sensing a presence to his right. Mihawk raised his giant blade as if it were a pocket knife to block against Kuina's incoming attack, not buckling a bit as their legendary swords clashed together. Kuina unleashed a fury of quick, Shigan-powered thrusts, quickly putting Mihawk on the defensive. Despite that, Kuina hardly felt like she had any sort of advantage. Mihawk didn't seem at all to be struggling as he blocked each and every strike. Kuina couldn't imagine what kind of strength it would take to wield such a cumbersome blade so precisely. Kuina ceased the attack, jumping away before she exhausted herself even further.

"You're no amateur, I'll give you that. But you'll have to do a lot better than that, Raindodger," Mihawk taunted her, raising his sword in her direction.

Kuina looked frustrated and desperate, as Mihawk didn't even look like he had broken a sweat from all that. As much as Kuina wanted to defeat him, she wasn't stupid. Proud, but not stupid. She'd still have Laskey and all his goons to deal with, and there'd be no way she be in any shape to fight them too. What she needed was a good distraction, and opening to retreat and fight another day. It pained her to run away from a fight, but she had too much to live for to throw her life away trying to win an unwinnable fight. Again, Kuina made no aggressive moves, waiting for Mihawk to strike again. Kuina had an idea to take Mihawk out of the fight at least temporarily, and create a big enough scene for her to hopefully slip away. But it would take nearly all of her remaining energy, and she needed to act at the exact right moment, otherwise it would never work.

Laskey looked on with ever growing impatience. It didn't seem Mihawk was giving it his all, more like he was just testing Kuina to see what she was capable of. Now they were just circling around each other. It almost seemed like both were afraid to attack the other, for whatever reason.

"Come on, Ace. Where the hell are you?" Kuina muttered to herself, wanting to take a glance at the sky, but it wasn't worth risking taking her eyes off Mihawk.

"My patience is wearing thin, Mihawk," Laskey stated from the sidelines.

"I don't particularly care, government dog. If you wish to intervene, do so at your own risk," Mihawk threatened, not even looking at him as he did so.

"Impudent fool, I never would have imagined you to play with your prey," Laskey insulted, crossing his arms. He wouldn't stand for much more of this, no matter how powerful Mihawk was. Laskey was a lot of things, but he was no coward.

"Insult me again, and you'll see how impudent I can be," Mihawk said with a quick glance, one that Kuina took notice of.

This might have been the only chance she was going to get, so she took it. While Mihawk was briefly distracted, even for only a second Kuina acted. Mihawk sensed her presence to his side again, and at first thought it would be the same exact trick. This time, however, Kuina wasn't attacking, at least not yet, rather she was darting around Mihawk's position like a gnat, as if trying to confuse him. Mihawk's perception was something of a legend, as he wasn't called Hawk-Eyes for nothing. With his sharp eyes and superior Haki, he was able to tell exactly where Kuina was going to be.

"I thought I told you, you'll have to try harder than that!" Mihawk shouted, before whipping around to attack where Kuina would show up next.

He had guessed right, but then, Kuina knew he would. The same trick she had used against Vista months before, only this one she had planned ahead of time. Before Mihawk's blade could touch her skin, Kuina's figure simply shifted back a foot while in mid-air, actually managing to stun the Shichibukai. Mihawk's sword swung harmlessly through the air, mere inches away from Kuina's face, leaving him wide open to an attack. Kuina's rather unorthodox style had been enough to cause Mihawk to make one mistake, and that was all Kuina needed. She doubted greatly this would be enough to defeat Mihawk, but hopefully it would at least incapacitate him for long enough. Before Mihawk could react, Kuina raised her blade.

Kuina had only ever pulled off this move once before, and that was in training. When Jakon taught her this technique, he made it clear that this was to only be used as a last resort. An ace in the hole. It was both highly destructive and extremely exhausting, and could only be used by someone who had fully mastered the art of Rokushiki. Kuina didn't even know if this was going to work, but she had to try. Like all other techniques, it had been adapted to use her sword, not her hands. Kuina channeled all her remaining strength, ignoring the pain from the gash in her arm, and put everything into this one blow.

The second Kuina used to charge her attack gave Mihawk enough time to recover at least enough to bring his sword up in defense. If he knew the power behind this attack, he would have tried to dodge instead. If Mihawk was firmly planted on both his feet, he probably would have been able to withstand it, but he wasn't. He had been caught off balance, a rare event indeed. One that Kuina wouldn't waste. With a resounding war cry, she brought her sword down in a flourish far too fast to see, unleashing a devastating shockwave at point blank range. Their swords clashed for a brief second, but the attacking force was far too powerful to defend against, so powerful in fact that the impact shattered the ground Mihawk was standing on.

Just like that, Dracule Mihawk was repelled, overpowered by the young swordswoman's unstoppable force. The Shichibukai was lifted clear off his feet, blasting a giant hole straight through the arena of mist that surrounded them, disappearing from sight. The loud crashes that followed hinted that he had collided and gone straight through multiple buildings. Kuina had a reputation of being something of a glass cannon, and she had certainly shown that to be that case, for she had been left panting and nearly broken from the strain of her own attack.

"How's that for better?" she managed to ask smugly through her panting gasps for air.

Even in its altered state, Laskey couldn't help but recognize the technique. Rokuogan. Only the most powerful Rokushiki users could hope to execute it effectively like that. Laskey could now see the fullest extent of what Kuina was capable of. He knew Jakon was capable of the ability, and it seemed that he had truly taught Kuina everything he knew. Although disturbed, he appeared unfazed as usual.

"Jakon, you fool, what have you done?" he asked himself, shaking his head.

To him, giving a violent, rebellious soul like Kuina that kind of power was beyond reckless and irresponsible. This just proved to him more that Kuina needed to be removed. The integrity of the World Government and CP9 relied upon it. At this point, it was just damage control.

Kuina had taken Mihawk out of the picture, for now at least. She had no doubt in her mind he'd be back soon enough, and probably more than a little angered. She still had no solution to what to do about Laskey, who would be closing in any second, but luckily for her, salvation had come in the form of one Portgas D. Ace.

A massive ball of fire from above ripped a giant hole through Laskey's mist, dissolving much of it away. Laskey had to dodge quickly to avoid being burned by the blast. He turned to see Ace hovering in the air, having returned to save his friend. All eyes were on him now, at least for the time being.

" _And there's my door,"_ Kuina thought, using what remained of her strength to disappear from sight, bolting away as fast she could towards the ocean.

Laskey noticed too late. Before he could go after her, Ace plummeted to the earth like a meteor, creating a wall of fire between Laskey and his target. Laskey shielded his eyes from the flames as Ace blasted away, taking off after Kuina. Ace had left a raging inferno in his wake, too intense for Laskey's mist to survive, so if he wanted to follow, he'd have to find another way around. Ace had ended up buying himself and Kuina quite a bit of time.

Even in her drained state, Kuina had already managed to put quite a bit of distance between her and the agents. She just had to keep running, and trust that Ace was right behind her. Very few people in the world could match her in speed, so she figured as long as she kept up the pace, she could make it, unless she ran into something else standing in her way. But she had no time to think about that now. She turned her head, wanting to make sure Ace was behind her, a great relief washing over her when he saw he was flying not far behind. Maybe they could still get out of this somehow. Although she was sure the bay was surrounded by Marine ships by this point, so she had no idea how they were going to escape.

One moment, the path ahead of her was clear, the next, a huge man was standing in her way. He had just appeared there, out of thin air. One of the tallest being she had ever seen besides a giant. Bartholomew Kuma, another warlord of the sea.

"Goddammit!" Kuina cursed, coming to a stop, "I don't have time for this!"

Kuina didn't have nearly enough strength left in her to fight Kuma. She'd have to rely on help from her ally Ace, or at least she though she did.

"What the hell are you helping those agents for?" Kuina demanded from the pirate, who stood silent as the grave before her. "Just get out of our way, we don't have to fight!"

The giant Kuma ignored her question, and replied with his own. Kuma, a man of few words, had chosen Kuina to grace with the sound of his voice.

"You are the 'Raindodger,' correct? The daughter of Jakon Romanov?"

Kuina flinched a bit, his question throwing her off guard. "I'm not his daughter, I'm his student," she replied, not seeing what it mattered.

"But you were raised as his daughter, weren't you? You see him as your true father?"

Kuina didn't respond, she was too dumbfounded by this odd encounter. By now, Ace had dropped down beside his friend, just as confused looking as she was.

"Kuina, what the hell? Are we fighting this guy or what?"

"I'm not sure," Kuina replied honestly, "He's acting weird, but he's definitely in our way."

"Hey, warlord! If you don't move, I'm gonna blast you out of the way!" Ace threatened, raising his fiery hands.

"Answer the question, Raindodger. Is Jakon Romanov your father?" Kuma persisted, ignoring Ace's threats.

"So what if he is?" Kuina demanded, wondering if this man had some vendetta against her master. "What's it to you?"

Kuma took that as a yes, carefully peeling his black glove from his hand. "Then we don't have much time."

And with that, he vanished from sight, suddenly appearing beside Kuina with his hand raised. Tired and caught off guard, Kuina could do nothing as Kuma waved his hand towards Kuina as if he was going to slap her. Kuina turned her head in a shock, the stoic face of Kuma the last thing she saw before his hand made contact with her body, and she was gone in a puff of smoke. Kuma had made her vanish, like a magic trick. She just wasn't there anymore.

"What the hell? What did you do to her?" Ace demanded, but his question fell on deaf ears.

"You should probably go with her, I suppose. She'll need you with her," Kuma said mysteriously.

"Wha-?" was all Ace got out before Kuma appeared at his side in an instant, giving him the same treatment he had given to Kuina.

Just like that, Ace was gone in the same manner. They had both escaped Sabaody Archipelago, but certainly not in the way they had planned. Bartholomew Kuma had sent them both on a one way trip far, far away. Then, he vanished himself, leaving no trace he was ever there before Laskey and the others arrived.

* * *

The next thing Kuina knew she was flying through the air at breakneck speeds, and although moving fast was certainly nothing new for her, this time she had no control over herself. As far as she could tell, she was trapped in some sort of bubble on her way to an unknown location, and that was all she knew. She had no idea what Kuma had done or why, or what had happened to Ace, and no matter how much it infuriated her, she couldn't move or break free. She could only imagine she was on her way to some World Government prison like Impel Down, or something equally as horrible, and all Kuina could do about it was mutter to herself like a madwoman.

"Damn that warlord, what the hell has he done? He didn't even have the spine to face me in a proper fight! The coward! I swear, you're gonna regret this!" Kuina ranted, although her violent, enraged threats were all in futility.

Kuina soon lost any semblance of how much time had passed, but it had gone on for much longer than she ever imagined. It had been hours at least, and since all she could do was look at the sky above her, she couldn't help but notice the sun had gone down quite some time ago. All she could do was try to get some rest, gather her strength for whatever fresh Hell awaited her. She hoped Ace was alright, wherever he was. Little did she realize she would be seeing him again soon enough.

By the time her strange capsule reached its destination, Kuina had fallen into an exhaustion induced sleep. Her previous encounter had drained every speck of her energy, only being pushed on by pure power of will and adrenaline, so she desperately needed the rest. At that point she had been soaring through sky for well over a day. Kuina would be landing soon, yet in a far friendlier environment than she would have expected, on the surface at least. Kuina descended upon a huge city towards the middle of Paradise, a city she had spent a good amount of time in when she first passed through, so at least it would be familiar to her. A city known very well for its extremely skilled shipwrights, and their unique sea railroad, that directly connected them to numerous surrounding islands. An island that had been slowly sinking for decades.

Kuina's paw-shaped capsule fell from the sky like a rock, crashing into the middle of a busy street. To say the citizens were shocked to see this event would have been an understatement. Everyone stopped what they were doing, looking on with gaping mouths as the young swordswoman lie flat on the ground, in the center of a huge paw print embedded in the ground that had been left behind from the impact. Kuina coughed like she had a sickness from the all the dust that had been knocked up from the crash. Despite the speed she was going, her bubble seemed to have absorbed the impact, and she was entirely unharmed, other than having the wind knocked out of her. She struggled to stand up, still not fully recovered from the strain of the previous day, which had passed her by in a blur, quite literally.

"Ow, ow, shit, ow," Kuina groaned as she rose to her feet, and rather unsteadily at that. She couldn't think of a time she had suffered a ruder awakening. It was around that time that she realized everyone was staring at her, and she wasn't yet in her own mind enough to realize where she had landed.

"It's a girl!" came a shout from the crowd.

"Where the hell did she come from?"

"She just fell from the sky!"

Kuina had been there all of five seconds and she had already caused a scene, not exactly a great start. Kuina wasn't sure what to say to any of these people, for she really had no idea herself. She was planning on simply darting away at high speeds to avoid any and all responsibility, when she spotted a paw-shaped capsule shooting through the sky in the distance, before crashing into another part of the city just as she did.

"Ace!" Kuina said, imagining it could only be him.

Without a word of explanation, Kuina bolted off to find her friend, but the citizens couldn't possibly follow her ludicrous speed, so to them it was as if she vanished into thin air. Kuina just had to hope that wouldn't come back to bite her, for right now getting to Ace was the main priority. It didn't take her much longer to realize where Kuma had sent them both as she raced over the city's rooftops, and she couldn't help but wonder why the warlord would send them to Water 7 of all places. He had to have some control over it, for if he didn't, the chances of her and Ace winding up in the exact same spot would have been outrageous. A million to one. He had chosen to send them here. Far, far away from the Archipelago. From the look of it, Kuma had done them both a massive favor, but why? Unfortunately, she knew she wouldn't be getting an answer to that question, at least not any time soon. She just had to adapt to the situation she had been handed and go from there, as she did so many times before.

"You fool! Look what you've done! You've ruined my shop!" came the angry voice of the storeowner Ace had crashed into.

"Hey, don't get mad at me! Get mad at Bartholomew Kuma, he's the one that blasted me here, wherever the hell here is!" Ace shouted back, for he still had no idea of his surroundings.

"Kuma? The warlord? Nonsense!" the shop owner yelled, because in his opinion, Ace was speaking insanity. One moment it was just a quiet day like any other, and the next a strange man falls from the sky and wrecks half of his shop. "You could have killed someone with this stunt!"

"Stunt? I had nothing to do with this!"

"Ace! Ace!" came a familiar, feminine voice.

Ace turned his head to see Kuina had tracked him down, which wasn't hard. All she had to do was search for the giant hole in the city, as well as the shouting.

"Kuina, you're okay!" Ace said back with a wide smile, for he had been understandably worried.

The shopkeeper wasn't any happier, however, just more confused and enraged. Kuina entered the ruined shop, realizing that his entrance had been even rockier than hers. They would have to deal with that, but for now she was just relieved to see her friend alive and in one piece.

"Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?" Ace asked her as she approached, still every bit as confused as he was an entire day ago.

"Other than we're in Water 7, no, no idea at all," Kuina answered honestly.

"Water 7? For real?" Ace asked disbelievingly, for that was quite a distance from Sabaody Archipelago.

"Yeah, I know, it's crazy," Kuina said, placing a hand on her hip, "But I'm pretty sure Kuma is the only reason we made it out of there."

"Yeah, I kinda thought that too, but why the hell would he help us?"

"No idea, maybe he missed somehow? Enies Lobby isn't too far from here, so maybe—."

"Hey!" the shopkeeper shouted, butting into the conversation. "I haven't the slightest clue what you two morons are going on about, I only know that this idiot owes me money for damages!" the man said, pointing angrily at Ace. "Look at what he has done!"

Kuina and Ace both shared the same grimace. They could just run away, but that would make them pretty terrible people. It wasn't even their fault what had happened, but it wasn't like the man responsible, Bartholomew Kuma, was going to pay for damages. Luckily, Kuina had plenty of money on her person, for she didn't really spend the money she made on much. Money didn't have much value to Kuina either, and although she was a pirate, she couldn't in good faith leave the man here with his business compromised like this. Kuina revealed a rather absurdly sized wad of cash from one of her coat pockets, showing that she was carrying around quite a ridiculous amount of money. In her defense, one would have to be pretty stupid to try to steal anything from her, provided they knew who she was. Kuina didn't even bother counting it, she just took out a generous sum and shoved it into the man's hands.

"Here, take this. This never happened, we were never here, got it?" Kuina told him, making sure that was clear before she took Ace by the arm and quickly dragged him away from the scene.

"Oh my . . ." the shopkeeper gaped, disbelieving at the amount he had just been handed.

"Kuina, you just gave that guy at least ten million beri! I'm not even carrying that much!"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. We ruined his whole shop, and I've got plenty more anyway," Kuina pointed out, not worried at all as they walked down the street, gaining as much distance from the shop as they could.

"Wow, you're a terrible pirate," Ace said with a grin.

"I suppose I am, but it's a good thing I'm not trying to become the world's greatest pirate, now am I?" Kuina said back with a slight smile of her own.

"So, what we do now?" Ace asked, for they had been thrown way off track. "I mean, we don't even have a boat anymore, it's still at Saobody!"

"Yeah, there's no way we're getting that back, but there's no shortage of ships and boats around here. That's not what I'm thinking about right now, right now, I'm thinking about getting something to eat, because I'm absolutely starving," Kuina admitted, for she hadn't eaten in well over a day, since she was trapped in that bubble capsule.

Upon hearing the word "eat," Ace was instantly reminded of how terribly hungry he was as well. "Yeah, you're right, that comes first. I know just the place. It's got decent food, and we won't get too many looks there. We could cool down, try to make sense of all this shit. Good place to get gossip and information too," Ace proposed, thinking of their hunt for Teach.

"Blueno's?" Kuina asked, for she had been there herself in the past.

Ace answered with a nod, "Blueno's."

* * *

**AN: Hey guys, sorry about the long break. I needed some time to work on other things for a bit, but this story is far from dead, and it's hardly the longest hiatus it's ever had! Hopefully I'll be able to get a good number of chapters up before I inevitably disappear again . . .**

**Anyway, as you can see I'm trying to move this story along, cause I want Zoro and Kuina to meet as soon as possible, as I'm sure you do too. I'm gonna try to get to that point before another break!**

**Beta'd by FlipThePages. Hopefully all the future chapters will be.**


	16. Settling in at Water 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their exciting escapade from Saobody Archipelago, Kuina and Ace take it easy for a bit in Water 7. They grab something to eat, and go over what exactly happened back there that had confused them so much.

Kuina and Ace made their way to the seedier part of town, where Blueno's bar was located. It was no secret that Water 7 was a hub for pirates, street thugs and other criminals, so in this part of town, they fit right in, or mostly anyway. They were of considerably higher ability than pretty much everyone on the island, and those that recognized them looked on with stunned eyes, but dared to say nothing to the pair.

"How well do you know this city?" Ace asked, wondering if Kuina was as familiar with it as her.

She did know about Blueno's bar, after all.

"Well enough I guess, more than Saobody, that's for sure. I was here for longer than most places. Did some work for a local group called the Franky Family. They're a bunch of wackos, but they're good people, mostly," Kuina said with confidence, although she had been known to do work with not so good people, such as Doflamingo.

"The Franky Family?" Ace asked with a bit of disbelief. "I heard of them while I was here, but what work would a gang of street thugs and ship dismantlers want with a hitwoman?"

"They paid me to get rid of some of the real scum of Water 7, really bad pirates and other criminals that terrorized innocent people."

"Scum like Teach?"

"Yeah, he definitely fits the type," Kuina confirmed as they neared the bar.

"Blueno's Bar," the large wooden sign read. Two bull-like horns were attached to either end of the sign, as to reflect the odd appearance of the owner.

Kuina opened the door, allowing herself and Ace to step into the rather shady establishment. A good number of people briefly looked in their direction before going back to their own business.

"I'm gonna get a booth, I don't like sitting at the bar," Kuina made clear, before Ace got any ideas.

"Fine, fine," Ace complied, knowing what Kuina was like by now. "What do you want to eat?" Ace asked, figuring he'd be the one to order.

"Frankly, I'm so hungry I could eat anything at this point. Something with meat, I need some protein," Kuina said as she walked towards an open booth.

Ace sighed a bit. "Something with meat," was pretty vague, and he knew Kuina well enough to know she'd just get irritated if he questioned further, as she was an easily irritated person. At least she wasn't a picky eater. Ace decided to just get her the same thing he was getting himself. Simpler that way. Ace looked to the man standing behind the bar, Blueno himself, who hadn't noticed them yet.

"Hey, Blueno," Ace said to get his attention, leaning on the counter. "Remember me?" he asked with a smile.

Blueno looked in his direction, and was quickly taken aback to see the infamous pirate standing before him.

"Ace? What are you doing back here? Last time I saw you, you were headed to the New World," Blueno said, for he had heard Ace's exploits at the time.

"Yeah well, some unfortunate business dragged my friend and I back into Paradise, but we'll talk about that later," Ace said, for he fully intended to question the bartender about any info on Teach he may have. "

"Your friend?" Blueno asked curiously, not seeing anyone with him.

"Yeah, Kuina. Sour-looking girl over there in the booth," Ace said, pointing behind him with his thumb. "She said she knows you."

"Kuina?" Blueno said with an interested tone, looking past Ace to see swordswoman, currently sitting alone in a booth.

When Blueno laid eyes on the Raindodger, he looked pale in the face. Kuina was of great interest to Blueno and every other CP9 agent undercover in the city, not that her and Ace would ever know that. Of course, neither knew of Blueno's true allegiance to CP9, as he had been an undercover agent for quite some time. Blueno knew very well that Kuina was of great interest and a high priority capture, but he also knew he couldn't blow his cover, for he had an assigned, specific mission. Other than that, he knew very well he was no match for neither Kuina nor Ace in a fight, let alone both at the same time. One of the most wanted fugitives of the World Government was within his grasp, yet he could do nothing about it. Not only that, but he had to stomach serving her as well. Blueno held his true emotions back as he always did, looking back to Ace.

"The Raindodger? Yeah, she was here a while back. Never thought I'd see her anytime soon either. So, what can I get for the both of you?"

As Ace was ordering the food and drink, Kuina was scanning the bar for any sign of trouble that might come their way. Her jacket gave no secret as to her allegiance, and as always, enemies of the Whitebeard Pirates were everywhere. She didn't think anyone would be stupid or crazy enough to attack them, for again, they were far stronger than anyone in this bar, but one never knows with pirates and bounty hunters. She spotted a member of the Franky Family that she recognized, in fact, Kuina was pretty sure it was his right-hand man. Zambai she believed his name was. She said nothing to the man, for she didn't feel like making her presence known at that moment, but soon enough, he spotted her as well. When Kuina noticed him coming over, she let out a sigh, as she was certain she had been recognized.

"Kuina? I thought that was you!" Zambai said, quite surprised to see her.

The Franky Family was known for their distrust of pirates, but at the time, Kuina was no pirate. Kuina and the Family were more acquaintances than friends, as they still didn't fully trust her. They paid her mostly to take care of the pirates that proved too strong for them, for Kuina was more powerful than all of them. More than anything, Zambai was curious as to why Kuina was back in town.

"Hello Zambai," Kuina said rather politely, for there was no reason to be impolite. Not yet, anyway. "You look well."

"Yeah, well enough," Zambai nodded, leaning on Kuina's table. "So uh, what brings you back here?" Zambai inquired.

Of course, Zambai was suspicious. Even though Kuina had helped them out in the past, it had been mercenary work. Zambai, unknowing to the fact that Kuina had joined the Whitebeards, assumed that she was back there either on a job, or looking for work. Zambai wanted to make sure that whatever Kuina was up to, she wasn't doing anything that would hinder the Franky Family or their illicit activities.

"I'm here looking for a traitor of the Whitebeard Pirates," Kuina admitted, thinking it would be smart not to bring Ace into the conversation just yet, or the fact that she was a pirate, for she knew of their distaste for pirates. "Marshall D. Teach. Ever hear of him?"

Zambai shook his head, "No, don't think so."

"What about Blackbeard? That's apparently what he's going by now."

"Still no, but I'll keep my ears open. Plenty of gossip passes through this place. So, you're working for the Whitebeards? I didn't know they used mercenaries."

"They don't," Kuina said, unafraid to make her true allegiance known.

"Hey Kuina," came Ace's voice as he approached, for he was done at the bar. "Who's your friend?"

"Zambai, and I'm pretty sure he was just leaving," Kuina said, looking to the man now.

Zambai recognized Ace pretty quickly, for he was a world famous pirate, and his posters were everywhere. He was able to put the pieces together soon enough.

"Oh, so you're a pirate now, eh Raindodger?" Zambai accused, looking to the woman with a suspicious look.

"Technically speaking, yes, yes I am," Kuina admitted, although it was no secret she didn't live much of a pirate lifestyle. "We're not here to cause you or Water 7 any trouble, Zambai. We're looking for the traitor, and that's all."

Zambai gave her a long, hard look. "Fine, but we're keeping our eyes on you now, Raindodger. And you, Portgas D. Ace," he said fearlessly, looking to Kuina's comrade.

"Have I ever given you reason not to trust me, Zambai? We'll mind our own business. There'll only be any trouble if you start it," Kuina said firmly.

"She's right, we're not here to start trouble," Ace added with a nod.

"Alright, so long as you know the score," Zambai said before taking off.

"Tell Franky I said hello," Kuina said after him.

Zambai said nothing to that, leaving their presence without another word.

"Nice guy," Ace said sarcastically as he handed Kuina a glass of water, for he knew she wasn't big on alcohol. He sat down at the booth opposite from Kuina.

"He's not fond of pirates. None of them are," Kuina said, taking a large gulp of the water. She had been terribly thirsty as well, so the plain water was like salvation to her dry throat. "Don't worry about them, as long as we don't bother them, they shouldn't bother us."

"Alright, so how about we try to make some sense of the craziness that happened back on Saobody," Ace proposed, for there were a lot of unanswered questions. "Those people were after you, and only you. They didn't give a crap about me, and my bounty is higher than yours. What the hell is that about?"

"Yeah, seems I'm public enemy number one. Lucky me," Kuina said, knowing that would just mean more trouble from here on out.

"But why? What do they want you so bad?"

"Because of who my master was, and because of what I know, I think," Kuina said, making an educated guess. "Those agents that were after me, they were using the same techniques that Jakon taught me. I've never seen them anywhere else, so I think that means he used to be one of them. Maybe they think I can lead them to Jakon, or maybe the fact that I know what they know is enough to want me dead. I'm not entirely sure. I just wish Jakon had told me some of this, considering all the years I spent with the man. A warning would have been nice. He was like a father to me, but he never told me anything about his past. I didn't even know he was friends with Whitebeard," Kuina said, sounding a bit displeased.

"And what about Doflamingo? Him calling you like that was pretty lucky. How do you think he knew they were coming after us?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kuina admitted with a shrug. "Mihawk and Kuma were there too, so I can only imagine there was some sort of Shichibukai meeting or something."

"Why do you think Doflamingo helped us?"

"He helped me, not you," Kuina said, making that clear. "I'm sure he doesn't give a damn about you, and I'm not even sure he gives a damn about me. He says he likes me, whatever that's worth, but I'm sure that's not only the reason. If there's one thing you can count on with Doflamingo, it's an ulterior motive. He wants something from me, and now I owe him. Bigtime. We both do, and he'll be calling in that favor sooner or later."

"Great," Ace said with a sigh, "Never thought I'd be indebted to a guy like Donquixote Doflamingo."

"Yeah neither did I. Working with him is playing with fire, and I do enough of that already, especially when I'm with you."

"That a joke?" Ace noticed with a surprised smirk.

"Yeah, I guess," Kuina said with a shrug and a smile. "I'm not entirely humorless, you know."

"Either that, or I'm rubbing off on you."

"God forbid," Kuina said, although she didn't entirely mean it.

Soon enough, their food came. Kuina looked a bit overwhelmed, for Ace had ordered quite a lot of it. She was hungry, but not  _that_ hungry, although she knew that Ace had a huge appetite. She trusted that he would eat most of it, and found it a bit hard to talk to him, considering he was constantly stuffing his face. Kuina was raised with a rather strict sense of table manners under her very traditional father Koshiro, although less so under Jakon. Despite her resentment of her real father, those teachings had never left Kuina, so it was quite a contrast between the two allies, as Kuina was eating quite calmly and quietly, while Ace was devouring anything he could get his hands on.  
"So, what do you think we should do now? About her search for Teach, I mean?" Kuina asked as Ace was slowing down, and the food was nearly depleted. "We got here faster than we could have ever imagined, thanks to Kuma, and there's almost no way Teach has gotten to this point yet, but there's no telling if he'll stop here or not."

"Yeah, that's a problem," Ace agreed, taking a breath from all the food he had just inhaled. "He could be anywhere between here and Saobody. I guess we could try waiting for him here. Most pirates tend to stop in Water 7," Ace shrugged.

"I don't think it's a good idea to stay in one place for too long, considering who's after me. If were with Whitebeard, that'd be one thing, but we're all alone out here. If we're gonna stay here for a bit, we really need to keep a low profile, otherwise we're screwed. Look at what happened in Saobody, and Enies Lobby is just around the corner from here."

"Let's just see if we can get any useful information out of this place before we head out," Ace proposed. "I still gotta ask Blueno if he knows anything."

"Zambai said he'd keep his ears open, for whatever that's worth. Although I'm not sure if he still plans to, now that he knows I'm a pirate," Kuina added, taking another sip of her water.

"Yeah, the whole thing's a giant pain in the ass for sure. We can start looking for leads again tomorrow, but for now, let's just try to get our bearings. First off, we gotta find a place to stay. We can't just sleep out in the street."

"Crap, you're right. We can't sleep on the boat anymore," Kuina said, for she somehow hadn't thought of that. "Know any good places around here? I'd rather not stay in a hellhole, if that's at all possible."

Ace gave it some thought, "Well, you got plenty of money, don't you?"

Ace had led Kuina to a rather nice hotel he knew of in Water 7. Not the nicest in town, but if they tried that they would get far too many odd looks and unwanted attention. This place was just nice enough that it didn't disgust them, but not nice enough that a par looking like they did would stick out too much. Kuina was carrying more than enough money to pay for it, that was for sure.

"You know, I can't even remember the last time I stayed at a hotel," Kuina admitted as she entered their two bed room, quickly sitting down on the bed closest to the door. "Not since I joined the Whitebeards, that's for sure."

"I've never stayed at a hotel. This is a complete first for me," Ace said as he passed her. "I didn't even really have a stable home as a kid, and since I became a pirate, I've always slept on my ship."

"I slept in plenty of hotels when I was travelling with Jakon. We were always on the move, and he always had plenty of money. Nice, awful, and everything in-between. We never stayed in one place more than a few days, and it was always under some fake, made up name. When I lived with my father, I almost never left that town my entire life. From one extreme to another," Kuina rambled, taking a breath.

As soon as Kuina lied down on the bed, she was reminded of how utterly exhausted she was. Her nap in Kuma's bubble wasn't exactly a good night's sleep, and her body had hardly recovered from the massive strain she had put it through. She closed her eyes, for they suddenly felt terribly heavy. Before Ace and even she knew it, she had fallen sound asleep.

* * *

**AN: After all the excitement of the last few chapters, I figured a cool-down chapter was needed. Also, apologies if this chapter seems a bit unpolished. My beta is MIA at the moment, probably very busy due to holiday season. I'll repost the edited version whenever I get it, but this chapter had been sitting around pretty much completed for a few days, and I didn't want to wait to upload this any longer.**

**I think next chapter will be a flashback, centered all around Kuina's last day at home prior to faking her death, so get ready for some actual Kuina/Zoro interaction. We've had pretty much none of it so far, so I'm pretty excited, even if it is just flashback/ young Kuina and Zoro.**


	17. Her Last Day on Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Kuina disappears from her home forever, she has a few things she needs to care of.

_"Well, now I finally know why," Zoro said, which only served to mystify his long-lost_ _friend._

_"Know why what, Zoro?" Kuina asked, knowing he had to be leading her into a guilt trip of some kind, and she was right._

_"Why you were acting so weird that day. You remember, you must. It was your last day alive, or so I thought."_

_She only sighed. She knew where this was going. He was mad, and had every right to be. He felt she had betrayed him, and while she didn't agree, she couldn't deny she had lied._

_"Yeah, I guess you do know now."_

_"You broke your promise."_

_Kuina cringed, like she was slowly being impaled on a spike. True agony. Kuina said nothing at first. She didn't know what to say. There was nothing she could say._

_"Yes, I did. It was a promise I knew I couldn't keep, but I made it anyway. It was the only way I could keep the other promise. Our promise."_

_"What the hell are you talking about, 'it was the only way'?" Zoro demanded, raising his arms and pushing the girl away. "You could have stayed with me, Kuina! You didn't have to leave!"_

_"Yes, I did!" Kuina shouted back, unable to contain herself. "I did have to leave Zoro, and if you don't understand that, then I'm sorry, but you're wrong. I did have to leave! If you don't wanna forgive me, fine! If you hate me, fine! It breaks my heart, but fine! I had to go! I couldn't stay with you! And that's just how it is!"_

* * *

It was the morning after the night Zoro had caught Kuina and Jakon training in the woods, and Kuina had awakened to anxious thoughts seeping with dread. Today was the day. The day she would fake her own death, using the serum that Jakon provided her. She would leave home forever, and begin a whole new life. As much as she wanted this, she'd be lying if she said the notion wasn't terrifying for her. She knew in her heart she needed to do this, for she would do anything to achieve her dream and keep her promise to Zoro, even if that meant leaving him.

Before she "died," Kuina had some loose ends to tie up. Zoro would no doubt confront her about the previous night's occurrence, and Kuina would have to play it off, make it seem like she had no idea what he was talking about. Make him believe it was all just some strange dream. She hoped she'd be able to pull it off. She'd hate to lie to her closest friend, but this was the only way. She obviously couldn't tell him of her plans, but she didn't want her last encounter with him to be meaningless either. She had a few things she wanted to leave him with, everything she didn't have the courage or nerve to bring up before. She hoped one day, they'd speak again, but she knew that day would be years and years away. She desperately hoped he'd be able to forgive her for this when he eventually learned the truth, whenever that day would be. No day soon, if she had her way. The last thing she needed was him coming after her, and she knew he would.

Before she sought out Zoro, however, Kuina had some choice words for her father. She wasn't about to curse him out or anything as foolish or childish as that, but there were a multitude of things Kuina wanted to say to him before she left. Chances were, this was the last time she'd ever see her father, for she never planned on coming back here. She knew Zoro wouldn't stay here forever, and their adventures would lead them far, far away from this boring, lonely village in the middle of the humble East Blue. By the time she had set out on her own after leaving Jakon, Kuina's resentment of her father never left her, but in her youth the bitterness was almost palpable. She could see the confidence he held in Zoro, but so little for his own daughter, who was a prodigy no less, and had bested Zoro two thousand times. To Zoro, he'd be a worthy guardian and father figure, but Kuina was through with him. She had nothing left to gain by staying with a man who didn't believe in her, and everything to lose. This would be the last day she'd ever see her father, and she had no desire to see him again afterwards. Perhaps one day the contempt would fade, but even ten years after this day, it would still carry strong within her. She wasn't sure if her father would ever forgive her for this, and frankly she didn't care.

Kuina opened the sliding door leading into the dojo, as it was connected to her house. The dojo wasn't open yet, but her father was already sitting in place, waiting for the arrivals which would come within a few moments. Kuina wouldn't be staying for its opening for the first time in she didn't know how long.

"Good morning father," Kuina said plainly, walking over to stand before him.

"Kuina, my daughter, did you sleep well?"

"Just fine," Kuina lied. Truth was, she had hardly slept at all due to all the weight on her mind, but she wasn't about to tell him any of that. She planned on keeping this brief and hard-hitting. "I've been doing a lot of thinking father, about what you said to me the other night. You know which I mean."

"I see, perhaps we could save this for later, as—."

"I've decided you're wrong," Kuina cut him off, for she knew very well there would be no later. It was now or never.

Koshiro looked taken aback at her sudden interruption, but didn't say anything in return.

"I've gone over what you said to me in my head over and over, and honestly, I can't believe you had the nerve to say that to me. I've put everything I ever had into this. I beat grown man after grown man that walks into this dojo, and still, you look me in the face and tell me I have no chance. I've given my life for this, I've dedicated every second to it, and you tell me it's all been for nothing, that I'm just wasting my time. I've tried time after time after time to gain your respect, but after everything I've sacrificed, everything I've shown you, you look at me, and all you see is a girl. That's all I am to you, and that's all I'll ever be," Kuina ranted, repeating everything she had been rehearsing.

"I never said I didn't respect you, Kuina. I've always respected you, but sometimes the truth can be hard to hear. Sometimes reality can crueler than anything else, but it's something we must live with," Koshiro said in response.

Kuina spoke in a low tone now, as her contempt continued to show. "Look at you, sitting there, trying to pretend like the word samurai still means something. The world has changed, father. What the hell do you know about reality?" She said through a steely-eyed glare.

"Kuina," Koshiro barked a bit, a much sterner tone in his voice.

But Kuina wasn't done. Despite her harsh, cutting words, she kept a calm, but intense composure.

"Here's some 'reality' for you, father. I'm through being your student, and I'm through hearing your advice. I'll never give up swordsmanship, for it's all I am, but I am done being a samurai, and I am done with your traditions. I'd be a fool to keep them. As a woman, they'd only hold me back."

Koshiro looked stunned, but then quickly skeptical and unconvinced. This way of life was all she had ever known. Surely this was just the anger talking, and within time, she'd realize the foolishness of her words.

"And what's next then, Kuina? Would you like to renounce me even further, to denounce me as your father?"

"Perhaps. I haven't decided yet."

Koshiro let out a tired sigh. He had always admired Kuina's passion, if not her brashness. "Kuina, let's continue this when you are calmer. Please, don't do anything rash. Anything you might regret later."

Kuina narrowed her eyes, "You're not taking me seriously. You've never taken me seriously. Goodbye father."

With that, Kuina left him, heading towards the dojo's main doors leading outside. Koshiro said not a word after her, letting her go off to what he assumed would be to blow off steam. If only he knew then it'd be the last time he'd ever speak to her. Kuina opened the dojo doors to step outside, only to find none other than the young Ruronoa Zoro, eagerly waiting to get inside. Kuina didn't expect to see him just standing there, but then again, she supposed she should have.

"Kuina! There you are! We gotta talk!" Zoro stated, as direct as ever.

"Zoro, uh," Kuina stumbled, a bit caught off guard. She grabbed Zoro's wrist leading him away from the dojo and down the stairs. "Let's talk outside."

Kuina dragged him away from the stairs and around the side of her house.

"Where are we going?" Zoro demanded, "Why can't we just talk inside?"

"'Cause I don't' wanna be in there right now," Kuina answered, which only raised more questions to Zoro. However, it didn't distract him from the first thing on his mind. "So, what's up?" Kuina asked, playing coy.

"Whaddya mean, what's up?" Zoro asked back, feeling she fully knew what he was curious about, and he wasn't wrong. "What happened last night? Who was that guy you were with? What the hell knocked me out?"

"Guy? What guy?" Kuina lied, raising an eyebrow in faux confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about Zoro, I never left the house last night."

"Wha? No way! I know I saw you!" Zoro said stubbornly, refusing to believe it. "You were sword-fighting with some guy, but you weren't using a katana! You were using some saber! And then something knocked me out!" Zoro pointed out, for he had no idea what had caused him to lose consciousness. It had all happened so fast.

"Zoro, that all sounds crazy," Kuina said back, trying to keep a straight face. "Why would I be fighting with some guy in the forest? And why wouldn't I be using a katana? Katanas are the only swords we use!"

"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but I saw it! I know I did!"

"I don't know what you're talking about Zoro, really I don't. Sounds like a really weird dream or something," Kuina said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"A dream?" Zoro repeated incrediously, "Could it have really been a dream?"

Kuna wasn't sure if he had bought the lie, but she desperately hoped she did. She decided to try to change the subject, get his mind off it.

"I wanna talk to you about something too, Zoro. Come on, let's take a walk, okay?" she said, before taking a step in another direction.

"A walk? What about sparring?" Zoro asked, his mind always on training.

"There'll be plenty of time for that later," Kuina said back, a reply which only mystified Zoro.

Normally, Kuina was just as eager to start sparring as him. However, today Kuina seemed different. She was acting strangely, and his curiosity had been peaked.

"Hey, wait up!" Zoro said after her, running to catch up with his friend.

Kuina breathed a sigh of relief, as for now the topic of Zoro's "dream" had been averted. Now she could get down to what she had to say, provided she could find the strength to actually say those things and get them out in a way that made sense.

"So what's this about?" Zoro asked, for up until lately, Zoro and Kuina didn't do much "talking."

Their relationship was an odd one, for sure. They were friends, but they were also fierce rivals. Almost all of their encounters had included them dueling, but not this time. This time there'd be no competition, no fiery glares, tough words, or puffed up chests. Kuina just wanted to talk, and that was all. It was an interaction Zoro was practically totally unfamiliar with, at least with Kuina.

They walked into the woods rather aimless, for they weren't actually going anywhere. Kuina just had to make sure she didn't run into a tree while she was looking at Zoro.

"Zoro, since you showed up here that day, my whole life's been different," Kuina admitted, trying to get herself together for this. "You're a pain in the ass almost all the time, to be honest, when we first met, I thought I hated you. I really did. But, somehow, we ended up as friends, even if neither of us would admit it. You were obsessed with beating me, and before I knew it, I was obsessed with not losing to you, and every time you get better and better. Up until a few days ago, we would only ever act like we hated each other, even when we didn't. 'Cause that's what rivals do, I guess," Kuina sighed. She wasn't sure how much of this Zoro would actually understand, but she couldn't leave without getting it off her chest. "No one's seen me like you've seen me, Zoro. You saw me at my weakest time. I was a broken mess that night. I had no hope left at all. I was convinced my dream was over, that I had no chance. I was ready to just . . . give up."

Kuina stopped in place now, trying her best to hold back tears, for this was getting emotional for her. Zoro could see she was struggling, however, and was just confused. It wasn't just because of his youth and naivety, as Zoro couldn't have possibly known this was the last time they'd speak, and Kuina couldn't tell him. She was trying to be as honest as she's ever been, while also hiding what would come to be the biggest lie she's ever lived.

"But I can't give up. I can never give up, and you made me see that. You saved me, Zoro. You really did. I want you to know that, okay? I know this is weird, and you'll never see me like this again, but today I want to be honest. I know that most times it seems like I hate you, but I don't. You're more than just my rival, you're my friend, okay? I don't hate you."

Zoro didn't respond. He had never seen Kuina like this, and he had no idea how to react. Kuina continued, but she didn't want this to go on for too much longer, for it was horribly embarrassing for her. She had said almost all she needed to say.

"And no matter what happens, from this day out, even if something happens and we don't see each other for a really long time, I'll never forget about our promise. It's crazy, but I'll keep it. I swear I will. It's very important to me."

"Kuina, why are you talking like this, what's going on?" Zoro asked, not understanding why she was saying all this.

"I just . . . wanted you to know, okay?" Kuina said, hating that she had to lie him to like this.

"People only say stuff like this if something bad is gonna happen, like if they're going somewhere far away. Are you going away?" Zoro demanded, his intuitiveness shocking Kuina quite a bit. He had figured her out, but she couldn't let him know that.

"What? No, of course not, where the heck would I go?" Kuina said back, forcing a smile. "It was just on my mind, and I really wanted to say it, cause I thought you needed to know. That's all."

Zoro still wasn't convinced, however. He was stubborn, but he wasn't stupid.

"Promise me you're not going anywhere, Kuina. Not for a really long time, until you have to."

"What?" Kuina recoiled, a look of dismay flashing across her face.

"Promise me you won't leave until you're grown up. You're older than me, so you'll leave first, but until then we gotta stay together."

Kuina had suddenly found herself in a terribly awkward position. She couldn't make that promise, because she'd be breaking it almost immediately. Still, if she refused, he'd know something was wrong.

"Zoro, come on, that's stupid. We don't need to make a promise like that."

"Yeah, we do!" Zoro shot back, as stubborn as ever. Look at how much better I've gotten, because of you! What would happen if you just left now?'

Kuina didn't have an answer for that. She truly didn't. She was stuck. She had no choice. This would haunt her for the rest of her life, but she had to do it.

"Fine," Kuina got out, feeling her heart twist into knots as she spoke the words. "I won't leave. I promise."


End file.
